Ready for use

Ready for use

Sharan PoovannaFirst Published : 26 Feb 2010 07:02:43 AM IST
BANGALORE: The Cox Town-Wheeler Road railway overbridge will finally be open to public on March 1, 2010, nearly three-anda- half years after the project was given the green signal.
Residents of the area expressed mixed feelings about the inauguration of the long-overdue overbridge, which was built by the railways and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike (BBMP) and had attracted the ire of the local residents’ association recently for lacklustre maintenance of service roads.
“It is truly a blessing that the authorities have decided to open the flyover to the public,” said Gururaj, a local resident and daily commuter on the road.
The public has heaved a sigh of relief for the moment, but the shopowners continue to be apprehensive about the continuity of business as ‘No Parking’ signs and other regulatory measures have been put up already.
“The parking and the traffic here may hamper business in this area.
However, we are grateful that the project is complete now and the dust and digging will stop,” said Jairam, who owns a phone booth near one end of the flyover.
“The project that had been started on September 18, 2006, had so far been the bane for motorists in the area,” said N Ramesh, the president of the Cooke Town Residential Welfare Association.
Ramesh told Express that the flyover suffered from ‘escalation flaws’ and ‘faced hurdles at every step’ during the construction.
The residents' associations of the areas had recently threatened to boycott the opening of the overbridge, Ramesh said.
However, the authorities had fulfilled their promise of layering the service roads much to the surprise of the residents, who then decided not to stage any more protests.
Ramesh also pointed out that directional signboards have been put up by the traffic department for the benefit of the motorists. “This bridge will upgrade the locality and also provide better connectivity to other areas,” Ramesh said.
However, motorists who have been taking a detour around the completed flyover for the past three months told the Express that it was not fair on the part of the authorities to cause inconvenience to the public just because they want some big minister to inaugurate it.