In some good news for commuters travelling between Mysuru Road and Bannerghatta Road, the underpass at Dr Muthuraj Junction will be inaugurated shortly.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has completed the project and expects to open it for public by July 31.

K T Nagaraj, chief engineer, Project Central, BBMP, said: “The underpass is complete and we are waiting for R Ashok, MLA of Padmanabha Nagar constituency under whose jurisdiction the project falls. We expect the underpass to be inaugurated by July 31, which is also my retirement day. I want the underpass to be thrown open to public by the last day of my career.”

The 277.16-metre underpass will allow commuters between Mysuru Road and Bannerghatta road cut the traffic without waiting for signal at the junction along Outer Ring Road (ORR). The underpass is said to be significant as it will help commuters from Hosakerehalli, Banashankari, J P Nagar and other south Bengaluru areas.

Built at a cost of Rs 18 crore, the underpass is the third grade separator along the ORR which was identified under the signal-free corridor between Nayandahalli and Central Silk Board under Nagarothana Grants by the former Siddaramaiah government. It had sanctioned five grade separators under the project at a cost of Rs 108 crore.

The BBMP has already inaugurated two flyovers under the project in Delmia Junction and KEB Junction. The one at Dr Muthuraj Junction is the third instalment.

Two more underpasses

Meanwhile, the BBMP, which was to take up two more underpasses at Foodworld Junction and Jedi Mara Junction, has scrapped those projects and has proposed to construct Ittamadu and Kamakhya Junction (1 km) at a cost of  Rs 125 crore, which is yet to be approved by the government.