Experts sceptical of elevated highway

Experts sceptical of elevated highway
Bangalore, June 13, DHNS:

Every infrastructure project warrants a need. The 7.5-kilometre stretch elevated highway proposal passed in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council has been strongly questioned by citizens and experts alike.

The proposal to connect Balabrooie with Hebbal and lead into the road reaching the Devanahalli airport seems to be a project which does not augur well under the current circumstances. Citizens and experts are both questioning the necessity to have an elevated highway when proposals to have a High Speed Rail Link (HSRL) and the Outer Ring Road connectivity to the Airport are still under consideration.

“Every project has to be need based. With the proposed HSRL and the current connectivity to the airport serving the need, the elevated highway project is something that has to be pondered upon”, said A Ravindra, Advisor to the Chief Minister on Urban Affairs. Ravindra states that with such mega projects being considered on a single route, the probability of duplication is much questioned. “Airport connectivity is not the only consideration for a City like Bangalore. These things need to be thought of before carrying out such an ambitious project,” said Ravindra.

Traffic experts are sceptical about the entire project based on the fact that the elevated highway within the City is simply impossible. They state that it is nothing but an “artistic impression” which only looks good on paper.

“While there are so many underpasses and other infrastructure projects which can ease the traffic congestion in the City, the proposal is nothing but a false hope. Traversing 10-signalled junctions inside the City will invite nothing but chaos,” said one traffic expert.

Comparison with the elevated highway on Hosur Road and Peenya cannot be made, said the expert. “They were built by private consortiums with enough experience of handling such projects across the country. Neither the BBMP nor the BDA have such level of expertise in handling the projects,” he said.

Echoing similar sentiments but with a different reasoning, structural expert, Dr Venkat Subramanya said that the necessity of such double decker highways which are in the pipeline are “not required”. “The topography of the City is such that more load will be felt on the foundation. With water, sanitary and other pipelines already in place it will be a Herculean task to complete such projects,” he said.

Feedback

I am a regular user of the Hebbal stretch. By making long stretches of the roads ‘signal-less’, it is dangerous for pedestrians and motorists. I doubt if they have taken into account the impact of the Metro (when it becomes operational ), and the often spoken about rail system to the airport.

Hemachandra Basappa,
Sadashivnagar

In view of widening the existing road and making it into a eight-lane stretch along with service roads and the high speed rail link project coming up, the mega flyover proposal should be dropped at the conceptual stage itself.

K R Venkataramaiah
Toronto, Canada

Let us build elevated roads on existing roads/rail tracks and run BMTC buses on them. The same fleet of buses can do more trips and carry more people without any addition to the fleet. The space on the road below expands without widening the road , cutting trees, acquiring property.No need for electric traction and railway station.

Calvin A B,
A reader

It is best to drop the construction of such flyover with use of high tech skills. Construct a “City Terminal” in four corners of the City with rapid rail link, light train, driver-less like in Dubai running every 10 minutes interval more or less depending on flight schedules.

Syed J Huq
A reader


The series on the projects worth s. 2,000 crore proposed by BBMP continues, with Deccan Herald taking a look at the road-widening rojects. The Palike and the BDA are bound to face stiff challenges in this area since it involves acquiring and demolishing properties on ither side of the road. After all, the Palike’s Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) mode of compensating property losers hadn’t gone down well. Send your
responses to hreporting@gmail.com