Peripheral Ring Road won’t solve traffic congestion

Peripheral Ring Road won’t solve traffic congestion
Friday June 29 2007 09:10 IST

BANGALORE: With the announcement of the Master Plan-2015, which focuses on development beyond the proposed Peripheral Ring Road (PRR), the new road is likely to become as congested as the Outer Ring Road (ORR).

The PRR will bear the brunt of BDA’s current priority of developing Bangalore South and West under the Comprehensive Development Plan. The objective of constructing the PRR is to ensure smooth flow of traffic as the City’s development was unlikely to go beyond that point.

But the rapid growth underway on City’s borders might result in the construction of another PRR. The PRR is a fast-moving vehicle track which takes part of the burden off the city main roads. But the scenario is likely to be different.

The road will become something akin to the Outer Ring Road (ORR). Speaking to this website's newspaper, BDA Commissioner M K Shankarlinge Gowda said that the City will grow towards Bangalore South and West, thus the PRR will be increasingly utilised by common man for commuting.

“The PRR only marks the rim of development for the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The BDA and Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) can push the City further. Since there are developments beyond the PRR as per the master plan-2015, the road will be utilised for all sorts of traffic movement. Thus, one cannot ignore the possibility of the increasing traffic congestion,” he said.

Unlike the NICE Road, the PRR will be a toll free road, thus making room for all vehicular movement. There will be truck terminals and logistic zones in all parts of the PRR rather than focusing on one place.

“This is being done to ensure that there are lesser traffic snarls. Since there will be regional parks in West and South, chances of traffic movement on the PRR will also increase,” he said.

“There is a possibility that BDA will construct another PRR further from the existing one. The traffic will further be regulated with the construction of BMRDA Satellite Road,” he said.

The PRR is the hallmark of the City’s growth and is expected to be utilised not only by heavy duty vehicles, but also by other motorists.