Incomplete Kadugodi Flyover Stumbling Block On Route To Devanahalli

Incomplete Kadugodi Flyover Stumbling Block On Route To Devanahalli
Sujit John & B Pradeep Nair | TNN

Bangalore: V P Baligar is only partly right. Some of the alternative roads to the new international airport in Devanahalli have indeed been upgraded, as he says. What the state’s infrastructure development secretary does not say though is that on one of the most important of these roads, there’s a major block that would dissuade most people from using it.
That route cuts through Whitefield and hits Devanahalli via Budigere. It’s a route that can enable those around Electronics City and those along Sarjapur Road and Whitefield to avoid the congested Outer Ring Road-Hebbal route to Devanahalli. But the trouble is a partially built flyover at Kadugodi on the Sai Baba Ashram Road in Whitefield.
The construction of the flyover, which goes over railway tracks, began nearly two years ago. But locals say that work came to a standstill some time ago. Some say the contractor has abandoned the project. But Baligar says that’s not the case, that there is a dispute over payment and some delay in supply of construction material, both of which were expected to be resolved before long.
Baligar expects the flyover to be ready in another six months. But some contractors working on adjacent roads told TOI that it could take longer even if work were to restart immediately.
The alternative to this flyover is a 5-km diversion from the Hope Farm Junction on Sai Baba Ashram Road via Channasandra which gets you to the other side of the half-done flyover. Not only is that distance forbidding, the condition of that road is terrible and there’s a level crossing on the route which could be closed, as it was when we took the road recently.
For that one reason, we don’t expect very many people to take that route to Devanahalli. That route is otherwise almost picture perfect. Nicely laid, smooth roads (though we can’t comment on how many monsoons it will survive). In a few short stretches, PWD’s upgradation work is still on, but that should be over soon. The road — that starts from Chandapura near Electronics City through Dommansandra on Sarjapur Road, and through Varthur, Whitefield and Budigere — is only a 7-metre wide, two-lane road. But for the moment, it looks adequate. There’s very little traffic, especially on the stretch from the Budigere Junction on Old Madras Road, all the way to Devanahalli, a 33-km stretch we did in 40 minutes. We didn’t have to stop anywhere along the way. No traffic lights. No pedestrians. Only lush fields all around.
But Mr Baligar, all your efforts will be wasted if the flyover isn’t quickly completed. The situation is similar to NICE’s peripheral road, a beautiful road that most commuters shun because of minor incomplete stretches. Small blocks are creating big issues for commuters, and the city. The government must act.