Every hour is peak hour on this stretch Law & order

Every hour is peak hour on this stretch Law & order

The inconvenience to those using J.C. Road is huge, writes K.V. Subramanya

Frequent traffic jams on J.C. Road, the major road that connects most parts of the South Bangalore with the central and northern areas of the city, is causing inconvenience to the public.

Despite being an important stretch in Bangalore’s central business district, J.C. Road has apparently not received adequate attention from the traffic police, unlike the upmarket Mahatma Gandhi Road and Brigade Road.

As revealed by an in-house survey conducted by the traffic police a few years ago, the J.C. Road is the one of those roads in the city where the degree of vehicular traffic remains the same throughout the day.

The police attribute various reasons for traffic congestion on J.C. Road, which was made one-way in 1993.

Free flow of traffic is often hindered as a good number of bullock carts and pushcarts carrying goods from hardware and tyre shops move on this road. Though a separate parking lot has been provided on J.C. Road by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), many vehicles are always seen parked on the roadside itself, adding to the traffic congestion.

The 50-metre road stretch from Puttanna Chetty Town Hall to the Narasimharaja Square has been a major traffic bottleneck.

The road is 21 metres wide (nine metres on the Town Hall side and 12 metres on the other side). The road can hold only five or six lanes of traffic, while the present traffic flow needs about nine or ten lanes. With the construction of the Sirsi Circle-Town Hall flyover, the traffic flow is unhindered, and thus there is a clogging at the end near the Town Hall, a senior police officer said.

The traffic problem on J.C. Road is gigantic as more than one lakh vehicles pass through the Hudson Circle per hour during peak hours. Besides, almost every day demonstrations are held in front of Puttanna Chetty Town Hall and Banappa Park.

During the demonstrations, the vehicular movement is crippled on J.C. Road, the police say.

The police have planned some measures under the Chief Minister’s 10-point traffic improvement programme to ease congestion on J.C. Road. They are considering re-routing vehicles on J.C. Road during peak hours and are also planning to introduce a separate lane for BMTC buses as it will increase the speed level.