One-way traffic on Madivala underpass eases congestion

The stretch has been witnessing a heavy and chaotic traffic jam for the past two months when the construction of underpass started. Though the stretch is not ready fully, the Traffic Police allowed vehicular movement through the underpass last Monday.

 “Its been one week and the traffic congestion has gone down quite significantly. Vehicles can now move towards the City through the underpass. But, it will take another 10 days to allow the vehicles coming from the opposite direction. Till then, commuters travelling from the City towards Electronic City will have to use St Johns Road, Water Tank Junction, Kripanidhi Junction to reach Madivala main road,” a Traffic police official said.

High vehicle density

According to police, more than 2,000 vehicles pass through the underpass towards the City every hour. Traffic cops said it was a Herculean task to manage vehicular move during peak hours as the route was not fit for use. The decision was taken on a pilot basis.

Not only the cops, most of the commuters are also of the view that the the decision has led to a relatively less traffic congestion. “It is good that we can now use the underpass to reach the City. It was a mess for the past two months and rains further compounded the problem. We hope to have a normal ride now,” said Punyashlok, a software engineer and a resident of HSR layout.

However, some of them are still finding it tough to use the road. “It has not made a great difference to people like us who stay in places like Electronic City. We travel to City only in the weekends and while returning, we have to use alternate road to reach Madivala main road,” said another commuter Prateek Sinha.

But most of the road users are also critical of using the underpass on one side they feel the vehicular movement through the half-finished underpass would lead to more problems.

“For the past two months, we have been suffering like anything and I don’t think the opening of one side route through the undrepass is going to help. The road, with craters and boulders is not fit for use. The space right below the underpass is always waterlogged. Authorities should take care of all such problems and allow the traffic movement from both the direction once the underpass is ready to use and fully functional,” said Hanumanthappa, a commuter.