Underpass shelved

Underpass shelved

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has temporarily shelved its proposal to construct an underpass at the Windsor Manor junction following an objection raised by Raja Rao, a member of BBMP’s technical advisory committee.

According to a top BBMP official, Capt. Rao had given a statement that the design of the underpass, as planned by the BBMP, would not solve the traffic problem at the junction. “He is a senior engineer and we are waiting for a suitable design to build the pre-cast underpass at the junction,” the officer said.

Meanwhile, the BBMP is creating a rotary as a temporary measure to make the junction signal free till it builds an underpass. Though the rotary makes the junction signal free, it enhances responsibility on the vehicle users as they have to give way for vehicles which will be taking a turn at the rotary, said the officer.
Bellary road

Air travellers will have to wait at least two more months to have a smooth ride on the Bellary Road stretch which links the central parts of the city to the new Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL).

Even though the BIAL is commencing operations 53 days behind schedule, the BBMP is yet to complete three more underpasses of the total seven planned along this stretch to make it a signal-free corridor.

The BBMP, which completed the Cauvery junction underpass on February 20, is in the process of completing three more underpasses — at Cunningham Road-Sankey Road cross, BDA junction and Anandnagar junctions. These three underpasses will be ready when the airport opens on May 23, said BBMP Executive Engineer (Major Roads) K.S. Krishna Reddy. However, another source said that the latter two will be opened to traffic by Wednesday evening as will the underpass at Malleswaram Circle.

However, of the remaining three underpasses on Bellary Road, work on the CBI junction underpass commenced a week ago, while construction of underpasses at Sanjayanagar and Windsor Manor junctions are yet to take off. The BBMP had intended to complete all the underpasses by April 30.
Causes for delay

Mr Reddy said that unseasonable rains in March-April, time taken to shift utility lines by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Bangalore Electricity Supply Company, steep hike in the prices of steel and cement, and continuous movement of vehicles on the road, had affected the work.