Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari acknowledged the delay in opening the Peenya flyover for heavy vehicles.
“It has been delayed. I accept it. We will start the work soon,” he said during a media interaction at Vadaganahalli, near Hoskote, on Thursday.
The flyover, which connects Goraguntepalya to Peenya, was shut in the last week of December 2021 for repairs, which were to complete in a few weeks.
But the work dragged on and it was only months later that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was able to reopen it for light motor vehicles.
Heavy vehicles continued to be barred.
An NHAI official said during the media interaction that they would undertake works on the flyover at a cost of Rs 30 crore and had invited tenders.
Skybus in Bengaluru
Gadkari said they were also working on a plan to introduce a double-decker skybus system in Bengaluru but cautioned that it would take time because “India doesn’t have the technology”.
“This is a complicated project. We have done a study and need to select the appropriate technology. An Austrian company has given us a presentation,” he said.
The skybus will carry 200 people at a time and help ease the city’s traffic situation, he added. “We are holding discussions with the chief minister,” he said.
During the media briefing, Gadkari spoke several times about the need to address Bengaluru’s notorious traffic problem and called it the “topmost” priority”.
The minister also stressed the need to reduce air pollution in the city.
Speaking after a review meeting with Gadkari in the evening, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he had requested the NHAI to decongest national highways passing through Bengaluru.
Building flyovers can be one of the solutions, Gadkari added.
The meeting also discussed providing last-mile connectivity options from metro stations.
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