JOIN USMetro speeds above, traffic crawls below
The Metro Rail has created a new paradise some 50-60 ft above the ground here, leaving a nightmarish experience for motorists beneath.
The rail services have indeed cut short the duration spent on travelling from Baiyappanahalli to MG Road substantially, but it has aggravated the traffic chaos on MG Road Station manifold. The Metro Rail hangover for the last five days from MG Road to Trinity Circle gave a glimpse of the future and it reached the peak on Saturday. There were traffic snarls from Anil Kumble Circle to Brigade Road Junction with vehicles stranded for hours.
As the skywalk has not become operational, there were people everywhere on the road. For the convenience of the public, traffic police were blocking the movement of vehicles at three places near the MG Road Metro Rail Station to pave the way for the pedestrians to cross the road.
With the proposed boulevard and a walkway yet to materialise, people on the Metro Station side were forced to walk on the road to reach Anil Kumble Circle. Adding to the traffic chaos were buses lined up near the station to provide feeder services for the Metro Rail passengers.
The bumper-to-bumper traffic on MG Road had a cascading effect on Cubbon Road with motorists using it as an alternative route. N Srinivas of Ulsoor, a manager at a temple, said: “I expected traffic chaos, but not of this volume.”
If traffic jam becomes a regular on this stretch, businessmen and employees working in offices located on the road will be put to a lot of hardship.
But DCP (Traffic, Bangalore East) B A Mutthanna was optimistic. He said the traffic chaos on Saturday was due to the crowd that came to take a jollyride on the Metro. “It will not last for more than a fortnight,” he said.