Plan to decongest Goraguntepalya junction remains on paper

Goraguntepalya junction, one of the busiest in the city, has been awaiting a grade separator for nearly eight years now.

Though Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, in his 2022-23 budget speech, had promised to give a push to the project, there has hardly been any work on the ground.

The project to construct an underpass at the junction was floated back in 2016 and by 2019, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) had also started the initial work by laying out limestone slabs. However, the work has been stalled since then.

“We had submitted a proposal with three options to the government.

“One of them was to widen the road to have three separate lanes along with an underpass. This would come at a cost of Rs 750 crore.

“That apart, we also suggested the construction of a flyover to ensure smooth vehicular flow.

“However, we have not received any response from the government,” a senior BDA official said.

The official added that the BDA had taken up works close to the tune of Rs 7 crore on the stretch before it got stalled owing to land acquisition problems.

“The cost of land acquisition is way higher than the project cost. The estimates show that it could go up to Rs 1,100 crore,” the official said.

It is a crucial junction since it connects to the Outer Ring Road and many of the buses moving to various other cities ply through the stretch.

Daily commuters across the stretch expressed disappointment over the delay.

“The junction has been a nightmare for years now. I wonder why the authorities have not been able to come up with a plan. Not just for us, it is also a pain for pedestrians and puts many of them at risk,” said Darshan S, a regular commuters on the stretch.