Gridlock on flyovers

The recent asphalting work done on the Mysore Road Flyover threw the entire area in a tizzy.

 In most parts of the City, a jam on the flyover is a daily affair especially during rush hours. A flyover is constructed to ease traffic. So a jam on it becomes an ironic situation.

Amrit Appaiah, who lives in HSR Layout and works in the IT department of Deutsche Bank, Electronic City, often gets caught in a jam at the Silk Board Flyover. “Though a flyover reduces congestion from four to five points, it creates bottlenecks in the process which lead to jams.

I am stuck on the flyover almost everyday around 6.30 pm-7 pm,” he says. Amrit has also had a bad experience on the Residency Road Flyover. “When I travel to MG Road and Shivajinagar during the weekends, I always get stuck there. It’s a mess and two cars can’t even pass at once. In fact, it even had a signal a few years back, which is so comical,” he laughs.

According to him, moving new enterprises to smaller cities is an ideal solution. “Bangalore was never ready for an expansion like this,” he says. He also feels flyovers with underpasses are a better option. “For example, there is hardly any traffic jam on Dairy Circle Flyover,” he explains.

In the eastern part of the City, where on one side, a major flyover — the Hennur Flyover — is getting constructed, the Lingarajapuram
Flyover is always chaotic on the other. Rahul Alick, who works with Titan Retail and travels from Kammanahalli to Old Airport Road, has been stuck here many a time. “I avoid that route now. Instead of wasting 15 minutes there, I prefer to take the inside lanes though the roads are bad,” he notes.

The presence of St Charles’ School is a major reason for a jam here, he feels. “The school authorities and government should construct a skywalk and make it compulsory for the children to use it. It’s safer and will reduce traffic as well,” he adds. Rahul also adds that the Indian Oil Flyover, near Mukunda Theatre, is “unscientifically done”. “The jam from here goes down till Reliance Fresh and ITC Factory. If one car is driving by, the other can’t overtake,” he laments. 

Logistics manager Madhusudan Ravishankar frequently takes the Mysore Road Flyover for work. “It’s become an irritating affair of late. So I try to avoid the flyover and go through Chamarajpet instead,” he says. The flyover is in a bad state according to him. “There are potholes on the roads and metal structures protrude from the pillars. Flyovers were constructed with the sole purpose of easing traffic butnow they themselves have become a huge cause for traffic,” he complains.

And who can forget the Hanging Bridge at KR Puram! The flyover is beautiful to look at from a distance. But one closer will have you running in the other direction due to the traffic snarls, especially on the roads around it. Dominic, executive director of Hindustan Aviation Academy, passes this route everyday to go to his workplace in Marathahalli. “It’s been this way for the last nine years. We lose at least 20-30 minutes in the jam. To make things worse, the bus stops are right there and add to the traffic,” he laments. “The only solution to the mess here is the widening of the roads,” he adds.
Says TN Nayak, the chief engineer with the Bangalore Development Authority, “All flyovers are signal-free and a jam usually occurs on them when a vehicle breaks down. Besides, it’s the heavy vehicles that ply on flyovers.”

 On being pointed out that it’s not just heavy vehicles moving on the flyovers, he says, “We cannot do much. It’s up to the school and traffic authorities. Yes, widening of the roads on the flyovers is a solution. However, our current focus is on Hennur,
Nagawara and Goraguntepalya Flyovers.”