Citizen group presents idea to decongest Chalukya Circle

Gearing up to give 35 congested traffic junctions an aesthetic upgrade, the Bruhath Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is now faced with a citizens’ demand: Let functionality precede beautification. First on the list is Chalukya Circle, a complex intersection of five roads in the heart of the city.

The civic body says its focus is on the correction of road geometry to let vehicles move freely, lighting and kerb design upgrades and an aesthetic touch to traffic islands. An artist’s impression of an upgraded Chalukya Circle is now in the public domain.

The busy intersection has traffic approaching from five roads and leaving by six roads. It is close to the High Grounds Junction, and the Miller’s Road-Sankey Road Junction within 200 metres. The intersection sees high VIP movement as Vidhana Soudha, Vikasa Soudha, Raj Bhavan and the Legislators’ Home are all closeby.

To add to the congestion, the intersection also sees heavy traffic heading to the city airport. The civic collective, Citizens for Citizens (C4C), has suggested a few alterations to ensure smooth vehicular flow at the intersection.

A small 600-metre-long flyover is the first option. But if this is not viable, C4C suggests suitable changes at both Chalukya Circle and the High Grounds Junction.

Here’s the plan, as articulated by C4C’s Rajkumar Duggar: “Traffic turning from Raj Bhavan towards Sankey Road at Chalukya Circle moves slowly on account of difficulty while turning. Stopping traffic from Race Course Road side (while traffic from Raj Bhavan Road moves towards Sankey Road) and/or widening the gap available for turning will help increase the traffic flow.”

To increase the gap available for turning from Raj Bhavan Road towards Sankey Road, about 10 feet of the traffic island may be chipped off and replaced with a road surface. Alternatively, the median between Miller’s Road and Palace Road could be reduced to widen the turning area, Duggar elaborates.

Besides, the traffic entering Palace Road at Chalukya Circle needs to be guided appropriately to the correct lane for the three directions ahead at High Grounds Junction (Left to Windsor Manor hotel, straight along Palace Road and right towards the planetarium).

Two very prominent and fluorescent lines should be painted on this stretch from the entrance of High Point.

“These lines will divide the road-width into three parts. Barricades cannot be used here since vehicles will come out/enter High Point, Prestige, Sophia and Golf Club and also Basava Bhavan. These two guiding lines should have appropriate large signage above, which state clearly the lane to be taken before High Grounds Junction,” Gujjar explains.

C4C presented the proposal to the traffic police who assured that it can be considered.