Airport Expressway spells development in the vicinity

Airport Expressway spells development in the vicinity
This proposed arterial road to bring the international airport within easy reach also spells commercial and residential development around, says Poornima B V


The proposed 21.56 km long Airport Expressway from Outer Ring Road to the new international airport in Devanahalli that promises to provide alternative and quick access to the new airport, will have some 30 vehicular-cum-pedestrian underpasses across the Expressway at all existing major and minor cross roads to ensure connectivity and to facilitate crossing of traffic and pedestrians at frequent intervals. A full clover leaf type interchange has been proposed at the peripheral road intersection. Two modern, fully automatic toll plazas, highway traffic management systems and two fuelling stations, and two truck lay-byes are also part of the project.
This high-speed, six-lane expressway with a designed speed of 180 km per hour, will have no openings and will be fenced to ensure speedy movement. With this, the drive to the airport from the Outer Ring Road should only take 15 minutes. Elevated roads, crossovers and interchanges of international standards also promise to make the drive to the airport a smooth one.
"There's going to be no realignment", clarified Sudhir Krishna, Principal Secretary, PWD (with additional charge of BMRDA), reacting to queries as there had been some opposition regarding the alignment of the Expressway. "The earlier alignment was based on satellite survey and the present one is based on ground survey, and there won't be any realignment", he clarified.
Major plans are on the anvil for the area around this Expressway and there's a massive project to rejuvenate water bodies in the area too, according to him. There are major plans to provide individual town ring roads to Kanakapura, Ramanagara, Magadi, Doddaballapura, Devanahalli, Hoskote, Anekal and Nelamangala.
Expressway and
connectivity
Apart from this, the airport expressway will further join the proposed Satellite Town Ring Roads (STRR). The 204 km long, 90 metre-wide STRR will connect towns around Bangalore city to each other and to the international airport. This would also ensure connectivity between national highways, state highways, radial roads, to the proposed STRR and Intermediate Ring Road.
More roads to
Expressway
The BMRDA and PWD have proposed to develop a network of 367 km of ring roads in the Bangalore Metropolitan region. The four packages, to be executed on a design-build-own-operate-transfer (DBOOT) basis at a cost of Rs 3,700 crores, will bring greater connectivity to these areas and also reduce travel time between towns located in the outskirts of Bangalore.
Real estate prospects
Greater connectivity to Expressway means options for both commercial and residential development all around. An international airport needs a gamut of ancillary industry support to function. From catering to clearing and forwarding, a host of commercial activity centers around an international airport. A large number of people are required to run the airport and the related services. It also creates business opportunities for many in the vicinity.
The connectivity that these roads bring would translate to convenient localities to house such commercial development. It would also mean more new residential localities in the vicinity. With the international airport will come the need for housing close by. A large number of people who find employment or business opportunity, thanks to the airport, will look for residential options in the vicinity. This sort of connectivity will also make avenues for social infrastructure such as schools and community centres that will find demand. Already, property prices have shown appreciation with the airport projecting progressing.