JOIN USBengaluru’s traffic movement is growing indiscriminately, the piles of traffic seem to be an eyesore to many especially to those who spend hours on the road just to reach their destinations within the City.
Hosur Road, one of the main roads connecting not just to Electronic City, but also to Hosur, Chennai and other cities in Tamil Nadu, is extensively used by office-goers, traders and businessmen.
Despite a road-widening project and an elevated express highway to cater to the huge traffic flow, the road just seems not enough for the ever increasing vehicles.
Sundareshan visits Chennai once every fortnight and during festivals. Every time, he is faced with traffic jams at the entry and exit points of the City. According to him, the Central Silk Board junction and the traffic just before taking the elevated express highway are the worst parts of the travel.
“The government has spent crores of rupees constructing the elevated express highway, which is no doubt world class. But entering the express highway is a huge task.”
As he puts it, crossing the Silk Board junction takes not less than 30 to 45 minutes. It takes another 30 minutes to get on to the express highway. “During the festival holidays, especially during the evenings, the traffic is just chaotic and seem like never ending,” he notes.
Echoing this opinion is Mohan Kumar, who travels from Chennai to Bangalore to meet his family during weekends. After experiencing the madness, he avoids travelling at certain timings, and choses to travel in a way to reach Bengaluru in the wee hours.
“No amount of road-widening will help the increasing vehicular movement. The government should think of strengthening other modes of transport. The major entry and exit points from the City should have separate roads for vehicles travelling within the City and for vehicles travelling from other states,” he suggests.
However for Mythri Kumar, a software professional, it is an everyday affair to which she has got used to.
“Earlier, the traffic jam at Central Silk Board was only limited to peak hours in the morning and in the evening. But in the last five years, there has been no concept of peak hours, as the traffic signal takes not more than 20 minutes. During holidays, the road gets choked as there are more buses entering and exiting the City, as a result it just become one big traffic mess,” she adds.