Bay watch: 100 in city by August

Bay watch: 100 in city by August
Aarthi R | TNN

Bangalore: They seem a small extension of the road for the 8-metre-long buses to stop. But, it’s been a long wait for the increasing number of bus bays in the city. Of the 100 bays planned in 2006-2007, 32 are now complete and the BBMP finally hopes to complete them all by August.
The initial wait for funds, tendering process and the space crunch in a growing city along with the cumbersome utility line shifting and tedious hunt for alternative location for many — these were just a few road hump en route. A few sites already listed had been lost even before work could begin — thanks to road widening. What was once planned for a 5.5-metre wide road became impossible even as they turned 15 metre wide! The pedestrian facilities occupied the remaining space.
Even at the 32 completed bays, while a few, like the ones at the congested Johnson Market Road and at Kacharakanahalli, have been quite successful, it’s still a confusion of purpose at a few others like the one near Natraj Theatre in Malleswaram. There are autorickshaws parked at leisure here while the buses continue stopping on the road. And it
might be almost impossible to have bays in a few busy areas with narrow lanes frequented by buses. A classic example: The spot near Aishwarya Bakery in Basaveshwarnagar. Thanks to the ramps of houses jutting out onto the footpaths, touching the roads leaving not even a 2 ft space to think about it.
“We did have some problems initially. However, with the alternative sites for almost all the remaining sites ready, we hope to complete all bus bays by August,’’ BBMP chief engineer Chikkarayappa told TOI.
HICCUPS EN ROUTE
The 100 bus bays were planned in 2006-07 for old BBMP areas. The initial wait for sanction of funds delayed the start till September last year. After that, the works were tendered in 25 packages for Rs 100 crore and work finally began in February this year. However, road widening and encroachments delayed a few and alternative sites are being found.
PACKAGE DEAL
A total of 25 packages, each covering four bus bays. This includes 15 packages with concrete works and 10 with asphalt works
Package COSTS: Rs 22 lakh with concrete works (outskirts and narrow roads) Rs 23.2 lakh with asphalt works (arterial and major roads)
Due to space constraints, now bus bays are 2 m wide for concrete roads and 3 m wide at asphalted roads, and about 58 m long.