You'll be cautioned about road blocks

You'll be cautioned about road blocks

Variable message boards will inform motorists of alternative routes

Soumya Menon. Bangalore



You can soon stop worrying about the possibility of running into a huge traffic snarl or bumper-to-bumper crawl. The Bangalore traffic police have decided to install Variable Message Signboards (VMSes) on all major corridors and thoroughfares of the city to give motorists an idea of the traffic situation ahead and provide them information on alternative routes.
Two of these signboards have already been put up at Pallavi theatre junction near Kanteerava stadium and KR Puram flyover.
These boards flash messages in Kannada and English on traffic congestions created by natural calamities like water-logging and trees and electrical poles getting uprooted, strikes, road blocks, agitations and accidents.
The Pallavi theatre VMS gives messages to Hudson Circle-bound motorists on whether junctions ahead near JC Road and BBMP headquarters are clear. It also alerts motorists to the traffic situation at Town Hall junction, Kasturba Road, Vittal Mallya Road, Cubbon Park junction and Ulsoor Gate, among other places.
The KR Puram flyover VMS alerts motorists heading into the city about the traffic situation on the junctions at Ulsoor, Indiranagar, CMH Road and 100 feet Road. "This is a pilot project and it will take another 10 days for the software to be completely integrated and the system to work round the clock. We do have teething problems. People have to be trained to update information on the systems. The instrument, imported from Spain, is the first of its kind to be used in the country. Delhi had tried something on similar lines but it did not work," Praveen Sood, additional commissioner of police (traffic), said.
The VMSes were first used on Saturday last during Id-Milad celebrations. "It worked really well. There was hardly any confusion as people were updated about diversions and alternative routes,'' Sood said and added that the systems would be seamlessly integrated into the traffic flow in the next six months or so.
Two more VMSes are slated to come up along the Bellary Road in another 15 days, guiding traffic headed to and from the Bengaluru International Airport.