Proposed plan to upgrade ORR stretch

The explosive vehicular traffic growth in the last 20 years has saturated the capacity of the Outer Ring Road (ORR). Traffic bottlenecks at innumerable points, clogged flyovers, discontinuous service roads, poor pathways and inadequate skywalks have all mandated a much-needed upgrade of the road. That is precisely why the proposed ORR Improvement Project is critical.

Here’s a look at one key stretch of the ORR from Innovate Multiplex near Marathahalli till Iblur Junction, and how the project proposes to address the multiple issues of traffic congestion, pedestrian safety and infrastructure upgrade.

The stretch:

This ORR corridor from Innovative Multiplex to Iblur junction is 5.2 km long, surrounded by commercial and residential areas. ORR in this segment is a three-lane dual carriage way with two-lane service roads.

Grade separators are provided at Kadubeesanahalli, Deverabeesanahali, Bellandur and Iblur junctions.

Problem areas:

Along the corridor, towards Kadubeesanahalli junction, there are no pedestrian crossing facilities at all. On-street unauthorised parking and open drains are rampant. Vehicular movement at the junction is often in a criss-cross, conflicting mode.

On the stretch between Kadubeesanahalli and Devarabeesanahalli junction, BMTC buses could be seen halting right at the ascent of the flyover. On street parking along the service road reduces capacity of the service lane. Near Bellandur junction, the movement of commercial vehicles during restricted time of the day adds to the congestion.

Pedestrian safety is a key issue. There is a high volume of jaywalkers due to the presence of bus stops, tech park and colleges in the vicinty. The area is under high risk of pedestrian accidents.

Tech park issues

The emergence of tech parks on this stretch has generated huge traffic. The Eco Space tech park has buildings along a one km path. A majority of employees here are two-wheeler or car users, leading to more vehicular movement on ORR. Traffic reaches more than 8,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) during peak hours at the Devarabeesanahalli and Bellandur junctions. Buses stopping at the ascent of Devarabeesanahalli flyover add to the congestion.

Improvement plans:

Closure of service road median opening in front of all entry/exit gates of Eco Space. The median opening will be restricted to just one entry/exit gate.

Shifting bus stops away from the grade seperators such as the one near Devarabeesanahalli flyover.

Construction of foot overbridges/skywalks on private-public partnership model.
Raised pedestrian crossing (with pelican signals on both sides) such as the one proposed near More Mega Store on this corridor.

Barricading footpath along the whole stretch and opening only at pedestrian crossings.

New drains and drain closing along the entire corridor wherever required.