For easy drive to airport...

For easy drive to airport...
The signal-free corridor, expressway, and the PRR will make travelling to the International Airport quick and easy, says Sai Prasanna


With the international airport set to take off on March 30, the city is fast gearing up its infrastructure for easy connectivity. In a bid to decrease congestion and facilitate faster travel, a separate signalfree corridor has been proposed along the 33-km stretch from the GPO to the new airport. Seven key junctions from High Grounds to Hebbal flyover will be made signal-free in phases, by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). This will be made possible by having underpasses at High Grounds, Windsor Manor, Cauvery Theatre, BDA, Sanjaynagar CBI, Anandnagar (near Baptist hospital), and Hebbal police station junctions to facilitate pedestrians crossing without hampering traffic.
While it was earlier proposed that the Cauvery and BDA junctions would be completed by mid-January, Windsor Manor by February, and the remaining four completed by March end, the deadlines have been revised due to some delays.
Sources at the BBMP said, "The underpass at Cauvery junction should be ready soon and work has already begun on the BDA junction. At Windsor Manor, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is still shifting lines and once the work is completed, we will begin our work. But all the junctions from Windsor Manor to Hebbal flyover should be completed by the time the airport starts functioning."
Road widening and signage
Road widening works already began three months ago and the pre-cast elements have been designed using the pre-cast box segmental
construction technology. Two factories, one on Bellary Road and the other in Seshadripuram are doing the casting work and the elements are assembled at the proposed sites. As soon as this is done and the underpasses are completed, that particular junction will be signal-free.
Roadside barricades and signs in specific places will be erected by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) after the Hebbal flyover. Also, there will be centre medians to avoid people crossing roads.
The Hebbal flyover itself, which was completed in 2003 at a cost of Rs 66.2 crores, was built to ease traffic on NH 7 and also as an interchange to the International Airport. The entire stretch comes to 5.35 km with two carriageways, six lanes and six loops.
Airport Expressway
The 21.8 km airport expressway is another project that is coming up to facilitate an alternate route for quick and easy connectivity to the new airport. It will connect Chellakere on Outer Ring Road to the airport and will have six lanes with a design speed of 180 kmph, helping commuters reach it within 15 minutes.
The expressway will have two flyovers over the Challakere and Bailihalli tanks, and will be a tolled road. It will be implemented under the BOOT (build-own-operate-transfer) basis at a project cost of Rs 1,080 crores. It was recently handed over by the Bangalore Development Authority to the NHAI. It has been planned to extend it to the Core and Satellite Ring Roads. The proposed date for the completion of the expressway is December this year.
Satellite Town Ring Road
The Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR) will connect peripheral towns - Dobbspet, Magadi, Ramanagaram, Kanakapura, Anekal, Attibele, Sarjapura, Hoskote, Devanahalli, and Doddaballapur to each other and also to the international airport. It will be 100 metres wide and will cover a distance of 204 km. The estimated cost of this project comes to Rs 3,000 crores.
Peripheral Ring Road
A Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) of about 110-km has been proposed to skirt the Outer Ring Road (ORR) at a distance between 2.8 km to 11.50 km. The expected cost of the project is Rs 550 crores and was to be developed by the BDA. Phase I of the project to the international airport, covering 65 km, from Tumkur Road to Hosur Road via Bellary Road, Old Madras Road, Varthur Road and Sarjapur Road, was recently handed over to the NHAI due to acquisition problems encountered by the Bangalore Development Authority.
The PRR will be a bi-directional carriageway with six lanes, three on either side. Land acquisition for the PRR project is set at about 2,050 acres in all. The Phase II will cover 51 km from Hosur Road to Tumkur Road via Kanakapura Road, Mysore Road, and Magadi Road.