Is end of traffic nightmare neigh?

Is end of traffic nightmare neigh?
Deccan Herald

By July next year, the long Hosur Road grind could well become a cruise for motorists. Promoters of the upcoming elevated expressway between Central Silk Board Junction and Electronic City will install a Highway Traffic Management System (HTMS) to ensure a foolproof safety mechanism on the 9-km road.

The Rs 765-crore expressway is a joint venture of Soma Enterprise Ltd., Nagarjuna Constructions Co. and Maytas Infra Pvt Ltd.

The HTMS will comprise round-the-clock monitoring of traffic on the expressway and provide advance information to motorists. “An emergency response system is being set up in case of accidents or breakdowns, to minimise traffic disruption on the highway,” Soma Enterprise Director Ankineedu Maganti told Deccan Herald.

The HTMS will be monitored from two “administrative camps”, to be set up at Electronic City and Attibele. The system consists of emergency call boxes, mobile radios, variable message signs, metrological sensors, CCTV surveillance at major junctions, highway patrols, ambulances and tow-away vehicles.

After the 9-km elevated stretch ends at Electronic City, the expressway will continue as a 15-km at-grade highway till the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu boundary. About 25 per cent of the work on the expressway, set for a July 2008 opening, has been completed.

‘To last 100 years’

“We have evaluated the project capacity till the end of our concession period of 20 years. For this period, we believe that the capacity being created is sufficient, based on projected growth rates. The design of the structure, however, is for a life of over 100 years,” Mr Maganti said.

The traffic in the first year of its operation is expected to be 167,000 passenger car units (PCU) a day at Silk Board Junction and 110,000 PCU at Electronic City Junction.

The expressway will be an access-controlled, elevated four-lane road from Silk Board Junction to Electronic City. Motorists using the highways will be subjected to a toll.

The expected tariffs at the elevated highway and at-grade highway, respectively, are: Two-wheelers (Rs 15; nil), cars (Rs 25; Rs 15), mini-buses and LCVs (Rs 35; Rs 25), buses and trucks (Rs 70; Rs 50) and heavy construction machinery (Rs 140; Rs 105).

The toll plazas will have features including electronic toll collection and contact-less magnetic cards. “We will have day passes as well as monthly passes. The day passes will be charged at 1.5 times the single-use fee, and the monthly passes at 30 times the single-use fee,” Mr Maganti said.