Signal-free roads to new airport

Signal-free roads to new airport
The city will have stretches of signal-free corridors to facilitate connectivity to the new airport, says Leena Mudbidri


The city's international airport at Devanahalli is taking off and this will set a series of other infrastructure projects like the planned PRR, elevated roads and signal-free corridors into progress mode.
Peripheral Ring
Road Phase I
Phase I of the planned Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) will enhance seamless connectivity between the city and the new airport. This stretch will run round the city linking Bangalore East to Bangalore North. The 65-km stretch will connect both National Highways and State Highways passing through both the zones.
This Phase I of the PRR will connect Tumkur Road (NH 4) in Bangalore North with Hosur Road (NH 7) in Bangalore South. The points of connectivity between these two highways will be at Hesaraghatta Road (SH), Doddaballapur Road (SH) and Bellary Road (NH 7) in Bangalore North, and Hennur Road (SH), Old Madras Road (NH 4), Whitefield Road (SH) in Bangalore East, and Sarjapur Road (SH) in Bangalore South
Specifications and
features
The PRR will circumnavigate Bangalore city at a total length of 116 km and will be 100 metres in width. This 12-lane bi-directional corridor with a 6-lane carriageway in each direction will have dedicated bus lanes and bus bays along both sides of the corridor so that buses will not ply on the main carriageway. There will be bus stops at every 100 metres along the stretch. The PRR will have both pedestrian subways and vehicular underpasses along the entire route. "There will be a pedestrian underpass at every one km and a vehicle underpass every two kms," says Nayak.
Nayak said that the PRR has been planned for the next ten years. "The width of the median has been designed in such a way that it can be narrowed if the road needs to be widened in future, or it can be used for piers if an elevated road is planned along the stretch," he adds.
Project status and cost
The development work of the PRR has been entrusted to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) from the BDA. "The Detailed Project Report (DPR) is ready and we are waiting for the consent of the NHAI to fulfill the requirements according to our plan," says P N Nayak, Engineer Member, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). "Once the new government is formed, the procedures to float tenders will take place and both, financial bids and technical bids will be called for and finalised. It will take a minimum of 3-4 months before work begins on this massive project," he added.
The total cost of the PRR is pegged at an estimated Rs 3,000 crores with land acquisition costs running into Rs 800 crores and cost of civil works such as laying water pipelines, electric poles and cables etc notching up another Rs 2,200 crores.
Signal-free corridors to international
airport
According to Nayak, the PRR corridor will be signalfree. Signals are required at critical junctions along the route but commuters will not have to stop since they have the options of using the flyovers and the loops on the service roads while detouring. It will be a tolled corridor.
Besides the PRR, all the junctions from High Grounds to Hebbal flyover will be signal-free for smooth flow of traffic. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will take up the works in phases on seven junctions on the way to the airport. Critical junctions like High Grounds, Windsor Manor, and Sanjaynagar will have underpasses to facilitate smooth flow of traffic.
Elevated corridor to
Bangalore North
The planned Raj Bhavan Road elevated corridor from Minsk Square along Bellary Road to the Hebbal flyover will add to the connectivity between the CBD and the new Bangalore International Airport. Since this elevated road will land just where the Hebbal Flyover begins, it will ensure smoother flow of traffic from the city centre, without detours.
Sources in the BBMP revealed that this elevated corridor will be constructed by a Delhi-based consortium and the detailed project report (DPR) is ready. The BBMP recently conducted joint preliminary inspections along with the consortium representatives. Once all the loose ends are tied, the road would be fully operational in 18 months, said the sources.