Bengaluru sticks to beaten track

Bengaluru sticks to beaten track

December 18th, 2009
By Our Correspondent
Tags: new routes, traffic congestion

Dec. 17: Bengalureans have time and again proved that habits die hard as many continue to take their usual, congested routes to their workplaces and elsewhere, instead of using the widened roads and new underpasses which have come up in the city for their benefit.
The traffic police is finding it hard to understand why 90 per cent of motorists still use the routes they have been accustomed to ignoring the wider, signal-free roads now seen in many parts.
Although the Palace Road stretch between Chalukya Circle and Mysore Bank Circle has been made signal-free, to the surprise of police the road is not being used by commuters who instead crowd the Hudson Circle and KR Circle as usual. This despite the fact that the now swanky four-lane road has two-way traffic after an underpass was built on the intersection with Seshadri Road.
“As Palace Road has been made signal-free for about 2 km, we are advising people to use it to reach the Majestic. Once the Metro Rail work begins around Vidhana Soudha, the traffic will automatically get diverted to this road. But before this happens we want more commuters to try it as it is hassle-free,” says additional commissioner of police (traffic) Praveen Sood.
The police is now planning to divert the BMTC buses which wait in the evenings on this road to pick up employees heading for the Majestic bus stand, near Vidhana Soudha.
“We would like these buses to use the western side of Vidhana Soudha to reach Majestic via Palace Road,” Mr Sood explains.
While the police is rightly perplexed about the lack of enthusiasm among commuters for the new roads laid for their convenience, it doesn’t seem to realise that its not just habit which is responsible for this, but lack of awareness about the new routes available.
As of now motorists are coming to learn about them only by word of mouth, something which the police can work to rectify.