JOIN USWhitefield has always been an area that many Bangaloreans try to avoid. The truth is that getting there is a Herculean task for commuters. The route to Whitefield has narrow lanes, lack of adequate signboards and traffic congestion, especially comprising buses and trucks.
There is an urgent need for an exit flyover to ensure a smooth flow of traffic in these parts, without which commuters encounter traffic jams on a daily basis.
“Being a resident of Whitefield, I have experienced those hour-long traffic jams, primarily caused due to lack of infrastructure. We need a well-connected network of flyovers that will ease the traffic flow from the City to Whitefield and vice versa,” opines Shantanu Verma, who faces this problem on a daily basis.
Post midnight, especially, one can even see cars crossing over the dividers freely, with no fear of the law, simply to avoid the jams. The traffic jams persist at that hour, regardless of which day of the week it is. It’s only on the rare occasion that one gets lucky and reaches the suburb without encountering too much traffic.
Dilip Rao, who has been living in the area for the last 47 years, is also well aware of this issue. He shares his perspective, saying, “The problem needs to be addressed without further delay. An exit flyover would certainly be useful, provided the planning is done properly. At this point, we need a futuristic flyover — not like the four-lane ones that are currently under construction, which only address the immediate requirement. One would need a design that accommodates the additional vehicles that will be there on the road 15 to 20 years later.”
He feels that since the traffic congestion is most dense at ITPL, the flyover ought to start from there and continue up to Phoenix Marketcity or further ahead.
“I haven’t heard of anything of this sort being done yet. The government needs to get to work and at least start by setting up a committee to see how feasible a flyover will be. For anyone living in Whitefield or returning from there, at least 30 minutes is wasted due to the traffic, which is very inconvenient. What makes it more urgent is the fact that in the coming years, the situation is probably going to get worse,” he states.
After his first and last drive to Whitefield, Abhiroop Anja, a student who is new to the City, swore off the suburb completely.
“The stretch from Gopalan Mall to Whitefield Main Road took close to an hour to cover and it was probably less than two kilometres. The traffic is getting held up because of the various intersections there and something needs to be done. There need to be better traffic signals with efficient policemen manning them,” he points out.