E-Paper
Govt unveils plans to ease traffic snarls in Bengaluru, bolster infra
To boost the city’s nightlife and hospitality sector, the budget proposes extending the operating hours for commercial establishments in Bengaluru until 1 am
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah while presenting the state budget on Friday addressed several pressing issues such as traffic congestion and infrastructure enhancement. The chief minister unveiled plans for an underground tunnel road network aimed at tackling the city’s traffic woes.
“The state government is committed to easing traffic congestion in Bengaluru through the construction of underground tunnels,” said Siddaramaiah. A preliminary step in this direction will involve the construction of a small tunnel at Hebbal junction this year, a hotspot for traffic congestion, said the people familiar with the development. However, specific details regarding the total length of the tunnel were not disclosed in the budget. The CM said that promoting public transport is his priority to reduce traffic congestion and pollution as he expressed the view that integrating various modes of public transport in Bengaluru will help achieve this goal.
Additionally, the budget earmarked funds for the commencement of work on the Bengaluru Business Corridor (BBC), formerly known as the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR). Spanning 73 km, the project to be built at the cost of ₹27,000 crore, will be executed under a public-private partnership model. The process has already begun with a request for proposal and land acquisition underway.
In a bid to boost the city’s nightlife and hospitality sector, the budget proposes extending the operating hours for commercial establishments in Bengaluru until 1 am.
Among the state’s other proposals is the concept of a 250-meter-high sky deck, for which renowned architects have been invited to design. However, no specific allocation has been made for this project.
Welcoming a few factors from Siddaramaiah’s budget, an expert Ravichandar opined that building tunnels under the existing roads won’t solve any traffic congestion.
“Good things in the budget are suburban railway, buying of new electric buses, increasing the tax collection from property tax and proposal to digitise the property documents.”
“The pilot tunnel road in Hebbal will help reduce the traffic. But they shouldn’t blindly build tunnels in other parts of the city under the existing roads,” he said.
Dr Sanjeeva Kumar BH, director of Transport Training Institute and Consultancy, said “Bengaluru right now has only one peripheral ring road. New peripheral ring road will help decongest Bengaluru’s traffic. The PRR will link Hosur road in the south to Tumakuru road in the northwest, and will connect 10 major highways, including Bellary Road, Doddaballapura Road, and Hennur-Bagalur road,” he said.
He said, “The tunnel will pump private transport. Private vehicles use them to reach their destination at the earliest and in return it will add up more traffic congestion. It will lead to congestion... I welcome proposal to extend the Metro to Devanahalli and to Tumakuru. It is a good move and it will surely reduce the traffic in the outskirts,” he said.
