Ensuring connectivity is top priority

Ensuring connectivity is top priority
R Jayaprakash | TNN

Bangalore: Get set for a non-stop cruise between Hosur Road and Tumkur Road. The six-lane access-controlled 41-km Peripheral Ring Road being built as part of the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) will be ushered in the new year.
This and many other projects will be opened to traffic — elevated road to Electronic City, readymade underpasses, peripheral ring road, satellite town ring roads, individual town ring road and expressway to the new international airport.
Here is a sneak peek into infrastructure projects which will be a blueprint for the city’s future development: BMICP: The Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), which is executing the 111-km BMIC project, has completed the road part of Phase I. The first phase consists of a 9.1-km link road between Mysore Road (BHEL) and Somapura (the interchange and the beginning of the expressway), 12-km expressway up to Bidadi, development of interchanges at Hosur Road, Tumkur Road, and Link Road, and a 41-km peripheral road linking Hosur Road to Tumkur Road and the first township. The state government allotted 3,500 acres of the required 7,000 acres for the first phase.
As of now, a 75-metre wide 41-km grade separated peripheral road connecting Hosur Road (NH7), Bannerghatta Road, Kanakapura Road, Somapura Interchange (where the peripheral road meets expressway) Mysore Road, Magadi Road, and Tumkur Road (NH4) has been completed. However, the peripheral road is incomplete at Gottigere and three other places, as land was not given to the company to complete the road. Totally, at nine places, including exit and entry ramps at various interchanges on the alignment, land has not been given to the company leaving the work incomplete.
With the governor summoning NICE for a discussion, things have started looking positive for the company, which has been caught in a legal wrangle. “The governor has asked NICE representatives to give in writing a detail version of events. He assured that things will be thrashed out soon, and decision will be taken keeping in view of public interest,’’ government sources said. Once the nine points are cleared, it will bring in connectivity to two ends of the city — Tumkur Road and Hosur Road.
PRR, STRR and ITRR, Expressway and Elevated Road to EC: The National Highways Authority of India has its hands full after taking up many projects in the city. The central agency evinced keen interest in taking up two major projects of the city — the 116-km Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) and 21-km expressway to the new international airport. The state reacted positively to the interest by clearing the decks to hand over the two projects. The two mega projects worth over Rs 5,000 crore now stand a high chance of being a reality. But this may take two or more years.
While the Rs 1,000-crore expressway will be speeded up given the need for a dedicated road to the new airport, the Rs 3,600-crore PRR will be one of the biggest projects. It envisages a second circular ring road around the city. In the coming year, land acquisition and spadework for Phase I of the project would be some action to watch out for.
On the other hand, the elevated road to Electronic City is steadily progressing with girders and spans being put up for 500 metres of the 9 km. The Rs 750-crore project will be ready by July 2008.
With the city growing by leaps and bounds, development is taking place far from the city centre — knowledge industry, proposed IT corridors, integrated townships and a slew of SEZs. Quite understandably, one issue which has dogged development is connectivity to these places. To address this, the BMRDA has proposed satellite town ring roads and individual towns’ ring road, which would eventually connect all these development centres. Here too, the NHAI has been entrusted with the project. Preliminary notification for the project has been issued and in 2008, land acquisition will take place following final notification.
Magic boxes: BBMP is working out ways and means to put up magic boxes — pre-cast elements to make important junctions in the city signal-free. Costing anywhere between Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2.5 crore, the authority is confident of installing the underpasses in a matter of days, minimizing public inconvenience. Initially, five underpasses will be put up between Windsor Manor and Hebbal flyover before March. In the later stages, BBMP plans to make the Outer Ring Road signal-free with the magic boxes on the entire alignment. That apart, a study has been commissioned to study severely choked points in the central business district, secondary business district and peripheral districts where the elements can be used.