Rajajinagar-Goraguntepalya Rd to be white-topped

Commuters taking the road from the Rajajinagar metro station to Goraguntepalya junction will have a rough ride from Thursday, with the BBMP deciding to dig up the smooth, pothole-free road for white-topping work.

Officials from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike said one lane will be closed for traffic on the 4.12-km stretch, which sees heavy traffic in the evening. The bottleneck at the Goraguntepalya junction, the entry and exit point for vehicles plying between the city and the districts in the north, will be the major challenge, they said.

An official noted that the white-topping work has already been completed on the Goraguntepalya-Peenya stretch.

“We know the traffic pattern in the area. Measures will be taken to ensure there will be minimal impact on the traffic flow,” he said.

On why the civic body must dig up a road that is in a good condition, the official said it is part of the package. The BBMP was criticised for splurging crores on concretising the road, with contractors getting Rs 10.44 crore per kilometre in the first phase.

The civic body officials hinted that the work might take two months to be completed. BBMP chief engineer (Project Centre) K T Nagaraj said giving a firm deadline on completing the work will be difficult in the urban environment.

“One lane will be kept open to traffic as work goes on in the other half of the road. We can’t fix a strict deadline as work in urban areas is affected by various factors. The plan is to complete it in two months,” he said.