‘Big 10’ — more good news on major roads

‘Big 10’ — more good news on major roads

TIMES NEWS NETWORK


Bangalore: Forget long-term projects. Implement measures that can bring quick and visible changes to the city. That was the diktat to the civic authorities from members of the Agenda for Bangalore Infrastructure Development (ABIDe) task force.
The members held a meeting with the authorities on Thursday to review various projects. A blueprint on road transportation and traffic management was presented by R K Misra, Ashwin and M N Sreehari. Completion of short-term projects like widening of roads, underpass construction, bus bays, drain works and metered parking system within three months was stressed upon.
The meeting stressed on upgrading roads. A ‘Big 10’ road improvement project, under which Hosur Road, Bellary Road, Kanakapura Road and Mysore Road will be upgraded, was unveiled.
Work will be started immediately and be completed in three months.
Starting Friday, details of all the major projects will be made available to the public on the Namma Bengaluru site www.nammabengaluru.com This includes details of traffic management, urban poor, city governance and security.
FEASIBILITY REPORT
The members also discussed the proposed High Speed Rail Link (HSRL) to the Bengaluru International Airport.
They asked DMRC for a presentation on the project’s feasibility. ABIDe has conducted a techno-economic feasibility study of the project and submitted a report to the government.
The study, carried out by M N Sreehari, traffic adviser, has suggested alternatives to HSRL considering the cost and viability factors.
Outcome of the report
The proposed cost for HSRL is Rs 3,800 crore, which works out to be Rs 130 crore per km. In the same cost, an additional 25 to 30 km Metro rail can be planned for the congested corridors within the city.
If there is a need to supplement road traffic, a monorail is preferable as it is more economical to operate — cost of Rs 85 crore/km as against Rs 130 crore/km for HSRL/Metro.
Monorail can take 30 minutes (completed in PPP model), with zero pollution, and no subsidy. It runs on a small column and beam, which can be completed in a few months
It is more viable to run trains (without any expenditure) with suitable augmented frequency on the existing rail corridor up to Chikkaballapur and halt at Yerthaganahalli/Doddajala near BIA.
toiblr.reporter@timesgroup.com