RR Nagar residents face problems as roadwork stalled

The road-widening work at Halagevaderahalli in Rajarajeswari Nagar has been stalled for a year, though the land needed for the project was acquired two years ago.

The stalled roadwork has forced commuters to ride on a narrow stretch and get stranded in traffic bottlenecks, with heavy transport vehicles contributing to the mess. Not so surprisingly, residents and traders along the stretch have great trouble commuting, and often complain about breathing problems.

Residents are confused as to why the road work has been stalled for several days, despite razing of buildings identified for road-widening and marking of the boundary.

“Peaceful days are a distant dream for us,” Halagevaderahalli resident Rohit told DH. “This project has been delayed by at least 10 years. The demolition happened briskly and we expected the project to be finished by 2017, but the road construction hasn’t yet started.”

While residents used to get anxious about the traffic jams triggered by the lumbering giant transit vehicles, they are more concerned over the pollution these days.

The road widening was intended to ease the traffic movement from the Rajarajeswari Nagar Main Road to the Srinivaspura junction along the Kengeri-Uttarahalli main road. While the median has been laid from Halagevaderahalli to Srinivaspura, the civic body is yet to complete the work from Jayanna Circle to Halagevaderahalli village.

Munirathna, the disqualified MLA from RR Nagar, acknowledged the delay in the project. “Compensation worth Rs 23 crore was kept pending. Recently, it has been awarded to property owners and now the acquisition (process) is over. The work will be completed by March,” he said.

Signal-free corridor

Munirathna also revealed the plan to float a tender for the signal-free elevated corridor linking the Rajarajeswari Nagar arch and Bangalore University gate.

“The two-level elevated corridor has been planned to ease the traffic movement. The signal-free corridor isn’t just for traffic movement on Mysuru Road, but also for exiting Rajarajeswari Nagar. We’ll soon float the Rs 80 crore worth tender,” he added.