A complete plan for city

A complete plan for city
R Jayaprakash outlines the comprehensive plan envisaged to ease traffic conditions in the city, in the face of increasing vehicle population


Ahost of corridors, doubling the length of Metro Rail, mono rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transport and a slew of new roads, realignment of ring roads, parking bays and integrated freight complexes are on the anvil. Bangalore, which is teeming with traffic and vehicle population explosion, needs to put in place a comprehensive circuit of projects to see it through till 2025.
All this will come with an investment of Rs 44,029 crores. According to a comprehensive traffic and transport plan (CTTP) for Bangalore which was conducted by RITES over 20 months, commissioned by the government, is ready with its report.
The projection is mind-boggling. By 2025, the city's vehicular population will be 1.2 crores and commuting in Bangalore can be normal if only a massive effort is made - an integrated multi-modal mass transport system. The system, once executed, will add 650 km of additional lines of mass transport and facilitate seamless movement, and will encourage 73 percent of people to use public transport.
The city's four corridors will have to be spruced up to accommodate the vehicle explosion. The four corridors worked out are metro rail corridors of 88.2 km, monorail/LRT corridors of 60 km, commuter rail corridor of 204 km and bus rapid transit corridors 265.5 km. The corridors should be in place in two phases over 17 years. While the I phase will involve Rs 25.872 crores from 2007 to 2012, the phase II will involve Rs 17,017 crores up till 2025.
In the metro corridor, in addition to the existing alignment, 88 km has been added - extension of north-south corridor from R V terminal upto the PRR; Byappanahalli to Benniganahalli along Old Madras Road, Yelahanka to PRR via Nagavara, Electronic City; Indiranagar metro station to Whitefield via 100 ft road
For monorail corridor with a length of 60 km, the suggested routes are Hebbal to JP Nagar via Bannerghatta Road along the western portion of ring road; Kathriguppe Road to National College; Hosur Road-Bannerghatta Road to PRR.
The report has mooted commuter rail corridors running upto 204 km. This would mean putting to use the existing railway line for local transportation with the introduction of local trains. The bus rapid transport (BRT) corridor means a dedicated bus lane cutting across the main areas of the city.
On the road development sector, a Rs 8,000-crore comprehensive plan has been listed out. Apart from PRR, core ring road and expressway to airport, new roads and missing links, road widening, grade separators, re-alignment of outer ring road, parking facilities and integrated freight complexes have been suggested.
Will this become a reality or will the report gather dust like several other reports? Here is the route map - to integrate transport planning and development of infrastructure, the government has set up Directorate of Urban Land Transport under UDD. This will in association with Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority act as an umbrella organisation, coordinate planning and implementation of urban transport programmes and projects.
New road circuit
New roads - 208 km, Rs 5,522 crores.
Outer Ring Road realignment - 13.6 km, Rs 191 crores.
Road improvements to ORR - 169 km, Rs 571 crores.
Grade separators - 29 km, Rs 690 crores.
Over and under bridges - 9 km, Rs 246 crores.
Pavement and skywalks improvement - 418 km, Rs 214 crores.