As Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 119-km Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway on Sunday, a traffic bottleneck at the end of the expansive highway has come into focus.
Vehicles moving from Mysuru to Bengaluru face traffic jams as the elevated expressway winds down at Kengeri, near Rajarajeswari Medical College and Hospital. The problem gets acute on Sunday evenings and Monday mornings.
Travellers have complained about how all the time saved by the expressway is lost around the NICE Road Junction.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) says it’s aware of the problem and ready to provide a solution provided the BBMP or the state government bears the cost of land acquisition at Kengeri.
“We believe that this location needs to be decongested and we are ready to offer solutions. But that will be possible only if we get marginal open space along the road where construction is not allowed. Since the land is within the city limits, it’s very expensive,” NHAI’s Regional Officer Vivek Jaiswal told DH.
He added that NHAI would calculate the land required to remove the bottleneck after inspecting the area.
“We are liaising with the BBMP and BDA, PWD and NICE authorities. We will try to make things easier for travellers with whatever resources we have,” he said.
The NHAI is also planning to build toilet facilities along the expressway wherever extra land is available, Jaiswal said.
Wayside amenities such as food joints will follow suit, he added.
(Published 12 March 2023, 20:08 IST)
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