LAST POST FOR BOULEVARD

LAST POST FOR BOULEVARD

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: When the Berlin Wall came down in November 1989, people scrambled to pick up a piece because they knew it was a piece of history. Many took a stroll on Bangalore’s boulevard on M G Road on Saturday, knowing that history was in the making. For, the boulevard will soon come down, an event as momentous, if not traumatic, as the fall of the Wall.
Work on Bangalore’s Metro Rail will begin on April 15, 2007, a red-letter day in the city’s history. A day when work commences on the mass rapid transportation system the city desperately needs.
With every end, there is a new beginning. The felling of 16 trees on the stretch will pave way for the 2.5-km-long elevated viaduct connecting Anil Kumble Circle with Kamaraj Road Junction.
The Metro is expected to change the face of Bangalore, reduce traffic congestion and make public transport comfortable. The endto-end travel time would be reduced to a mere 30 minutes. And the BMRTL even promises that it will restore the landscape with flower beds and walkway beneath the elevated highway.
Most of the work will remain under wraps as the BMRTL will barricade the area. For starters, at least 50 metres will be fenced off. In a fortnight, traffic regulations, including one-way rules, will be brought in as the width of M G Road will reduce by at least one-fourth its current width.
The funds will pour in from the state and Central government, apart from Japan Bank of International Cooperation. The 33-km Metro is expected to be operational by 2011.
The Metro Rail has two distinct phases. First, the East-West corridor of around 18 km, connecting Byappanahalli with Mysore Road via Old Madras Road, Majestic and Indiranagar. And the second is the North-South corridor of around 14 km, starting from Yeshwanthpur, running through Malleswaram, Majestic and Chikpet to Jayanagar. The first phase of the project is planned to be complete by 2009.
toiblr.reporter@timesgroup.com

DISAPPEARING ACT: With Metro Rail work beginning Sunday, this empty stretch of boulevard will soon be a thing of the past