Corridors to power development

Corridors to power development
Signal-free corridors and elevated roads open up more land parcels for commercial development, writes B S Manu Rao


One of the major issues before the civic agencies has been augmenting c o n n e c t iv i t y across the city. To a large extent, clusters of development, be it IT, BT, or manufacturing units, can be spaced out wherever large land parcels are available, only with efficient connectivity. It is the absence of signal-free corridors that made it difficult for civic agencies to disperse IT development across the different corners of the city, for example.
Now, with the three planned elevated roads, and the signal-free corridors in the form of the route to the new airport and planned Peripheral Ring Road, this issue is being addressed. It will not be a major issue then for corporates located in one corner of the city to transport employees from the opposite corner. And, the absence of long and arduous commuting times between the workplace and home is a major draw for both organisations looking for a base here and those planning to move in for career opportunities.
Corridors, essentially, are meant to facilitate movement of traffic through congested localities. This, however, has a bearing on the development of business clusters. An export promotion industrial park, for instance, connected through a corridor, can source HR talent from a much larger geographic spread. So, an IT major need not look only at the established IT belt for land or office space. This in a way facilitates the development of more IT belts across the city, thereby spreading the economic benefits of development to every corner rather evenly.
"Such corridors are based on an 'origin and destination' traffic study that takes into consideration the number of vehicles that go from one area to another area daily. For example, if we say 30,000 vehicles will go to the international airport daily, you can plan a corridor including road and rail links", explains Praveen Sood, Addl Commissioner of Police (Traffic). "When you are sure of the traffic volume, you can make an efficient corridor, to avoid the frequent turns the route would otherwise have", he adds.
These corridors, connecting to business hubs, will take a considerable load off the congested intersections, paving the way for smoother traffic all over. From another perspective, the signal-free corridors will make it possible to develop more land parcels as it makes it easy to reach them from the different corners of the city.
"The planned Peripheral Ring Road will be a signal-free expressway around the city. It will be access-controlled and at all points where there is access given, land parcels will open up for development", says A V Rangesh, Town Planning Member, Bangalore Development Authority. "There are two aspects of connectivity that draws global business houses to a city - connectivity to the city and connectivity within the city. They plan a significant role in the commercial development of the city", he adds.
These corridors pave the way for opening up more localities on the outskirts for commercial development. A large number of organisations are looking at the city as a base. This sort of infrastructure promises to make the city more efficient for them.
Access points to Peripheral Ring Road will open up more land parcels for development Corporates in one corner of the city can transport employees from the opposite corner in lesser commuting time
Corridors connecting to business hubs will take a considerable load off the congested intersections