Maintenance work congests traffic on Hosur Road flyover

The partial closure of the Hosur Road flyover has led to bumper-to-bumper traffic on the toll road. Commuters say the travel time has increased from 15 minutes to more than an hour during morning and evening peak-hours.

Traffic has been affected as Bangalore Elevated Tollway Private Limited (BETPL), the concessionaire for the flyover, restricted the vehicle movement on one side of the road — Electronics City to Hosur — where the maintenance work is on. While heavy vehicles, including buses and trucks, are barred entry in that direction.

Though there is no restriction on the other side of the road, from Hosur to Electronics City at present, the traffic there is affected as well, as a lane is shared with vehicles approaching from the opposite direction. The work is expected to be completed in March.

“Vehicles from both sides are essentially forced to ply only on one side of the road in these stretches, which is leading to heavy congestion. The toll road seems like Silk Board junction in the evening,” said Dinesh Kannan, an engineer.

The BETPL says about 75,000 vehicles use the elevated highway daily. The number of buses and heavy vehicles is less than 1,000.

According to Capt Baldev Singh (Retd), Manager of Route Operations and Public Relations, BETPL, though, it was an inconvenience for the commuters, the maintenance work was necessary.

In a release, he said periodic maintenance of expansion joints was necessary as per the instructions of the national highways authority, and the concessionaire agreement. “Both lanes on either side of the carriageway of the elevated highway will be closed for approximately 1.5 km and the traffic will be diverted to the other side by occupying one of the lanes with proper barricading. Apart from the restricted portion of the stretch, the traffic will be moving on both lanes as usual,” the release said.

Ramesh B Rao, who is part of the management in a multinational company, said the work could have been taken up in stretches during the weekends. “I am paying a heavy amount as toll to use the 11 km road. But, my 15-minute journey has been stretched to more than an hour for one way commute.” Noting that the traffic on Saturday and Sunday was low, Rao suggested that the company should have taken up a stretch of work each weekend. “This would have completed the entire work without causing inconvenience to the commuters,” he said.