Choked city cries for alternative routes

Choked city cries for alternative routes
Ambarish B | TNN

Bangalore: One freak accident on Bannerghatta Road and traffic comes to a standstill. The effects are felt on all connecting roads — NIMHANS Road, Siddaiah Road, Lalbagh Road, Inner Ring Road, Silk Board Junction, Richmond Road, Residency Road, Trinity Circle, Airport Road and so on.
A traffic clog on one road invariably leads to a chain reaction. This raises a crucial issue — is the city being done to death by one-ways?
Flooding due to a heavy downpour, a VIP visit or a protest calls for diversion of traffic on alternative routes. Sadly, the city has none for such emergency situations. “Every alternative road is a one-way and the moment we divert traffic, it leads to motorists being stranded elsewhere. Neither can existing one-ways be used in emergency nor can they be converted into two-ways,’’ a traffic expert said.
While rain cannot be anticipated, motorists can be informed about VIP visits and protests in advance. Simple anticipation and well co-ordinated information dissemination can reduce congestion, say the police.
“Each vehicle, plying during peak hours, has a designated parking space. That means, given a chance a motorist might prefer to wait out his time if information about the traffic condition on particular junctions are aired. When infrastructural solution is far from reality, we must go for a feasible solution by informing motorists about traffic congestion at some crucial junctions,’’ DCP east (traffic) Madhukar Shetty explained.
Documentation containing number of vehicles at big companies would help arrive at the exact flow of vehicles from just one point at a particular time. “If we can alert and prevent at least 500 cars from entering the Hosur road or any other crucial road at a particular time, it does make a difference,’’ another traffic official said.
According to traffic expert M N Srihari, a dedicated arterial road would solve the problem. “More than 60 per cent of the city roads are narrow and the city needs arterial roads to ease traffic during emergency. The city already has three times higher volume of vehicles than the prescribed Volume Capacity Ratio (VCR) on roads. Hence, after the widening process, dedicated arterial roads should be asphalted with good entry and exit points,’’ he said.
Experts feel lack of driving discipline is more serious than the lack of infrastructure. “Patient and disciplined driving solves problems during such traffic jams. The system has already unleashed a pattern of driving sense which doesn’t believe in lane discipline,’’ an official said. WHAT POLICE PLAN TO DO
Identify 20 areas from where highest number of vehicles emanate during peak hours. Keep motorists informed through a mass medium during emergency. Convert some one-ways into two-ways after widening of roads. There is no magical solution, unless motorists co-operate.