Dream motorway still a year away

Dream motorway still a year away
Wednesday June 20 2007 10:23 IST

BANGALORE: Seven years ago the fourlane expressway from Central Silk Board to Hosur Gate near Attibele was a motorist’s dream stretch.

One could rev up and not look at the speedometer along the 20-kmlong distance.

The dream has turned sour lately.

As the IT activity grew at exponential rate during the past five years leading to terrific traffic snarl, driving home from Electronics City has turned into a nightmare.

But, there is a ray of hope. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is getting ready to open the elevated expressway between Silk Board Junction and Electronics City. The 9-km expressway will be thrown open to traffic in July next, said the NHAI sources.

“There is a physical progress of 39 per cent in the project. All foundation work is complete and once all the piers are cast, making the deck slab would not take much time as we are using pre-cast segments. These pre-cast slabs would be brought to the site and put in place,’’ said NHAI sources.

The toll expressway is being constructed by a consortium comprising Soma Enterprise Limited, Nagarjuna Construction Co and Maytas Infra Pvt Ltd, on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis.

The consortium is also taking up work on the 15-km at-grade highway between Electronics City and the Tamil Nadu border.

In the expressway’s first year of operation, the traffic is expected to be 1,67,000 PCU (Passenger Car Units) per day at the Silk Board Junction and 1,10,000 PCU per day at the Electronics City Junction.

The traffic on the stretch is expected to go up by 7.5 per cent every year.

The expressway crosses junctions near Begur, Bommanahalli, Kudlu, Huskur Gate and Konena Agrahara. However, there won’t be entry points to the expressway from these areas.

The entry would be only from Silk Board Junction and exit only at Electronics City where there would be an interchange. But what about motorists who would want to go to Electronics City from areas other than the ones adjoining Silk Board?

“The existing surface road would be converted into a 10-lane highway for non-toll users,’’ sources said.

The toll would be Rs 25 per transit for cars. Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor which passes near Electronics City would also be not connected. The expressway would go above BMIC Road, said sources.