<p>The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has begun the work on adding an additional loop to the Hebbal flyover to ease traffic congestion towards the city. This will be the second loop to be added to the original four-lane, two-way flyover. <br /><br />The BDA had earlier added a single-lane loop from Hebbal towards the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). The new loop from Esteem Mall towards the city will be a two-lane road. The work on the loop will be completed in 15 months (January 2019) and is estimated to cost Rs 50 crore. <br /><br />“Piling machinery has reached the building site and the work started on Tuesday,” P N Nayak, Engineer Member, BDA, told DH. The BDA is also building an underpass at the junction. The agency has shelved its earlier plan to dismantle the loop that links KR Puram from the Hebbal side, he added.<br /><br />In May 2016, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Bengaluru Development Minister K J George had laid the foundation stone for upgrading the flyover and constructing the underpass. But the government shelved the project as it wanted to build the controversial steel flyover from Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal.<br /><br />Nayak insisted that the delay had not escalated the cost as the contractor, PJB Engineers Private Limited, had agreed to stick to the earlier estimate. <br /><br />The BDA official, however, conceded that widening the flyover was a temporary solution. The passenger car unit (PCU), which stood at 30,000 in 2016, has gone up to 50,000. It will increase further in the coming days. <br /><br />According to Nayak, the 83-km-long elevated signal-free corridor being built by the Karnataka State Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) and the BDA will run above the Hebbal flyover and directly connect the national highway. The Hebbal flyover will then be used for local traffic.<br /><br />Traffic congestion likely<br /><br />The construction is likely to cause traffic snarls in front of Esteem Mall and towards Hebbal. “We have told the traffic police to close the roads as and when required,” Nayak said. <br /><br />Underpass work delayed<br /><br />Meanwhile, the BDA has delayed the work on building the underpass under the Hebbal flyover following an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The underpass from the Tumakuru side towards KR Puram on the Outer Ring Road was planned to make the junction a signal-free corridor. <br /><br />The NGT has banned construction within 75 metres of the periphery of all waterbodies in the city. The underpass runs parallel to, and within the specified buffer zone of, Hebbal Lake. <br /><br />DH News Service</p>
<p>The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has begun the work on adding an additional loop to the Hebbal flyover to ease traffic congestion towards the city. This will be the second loop to be added to the original four-lane, two-way flyover. <br /><br />The BDA had earlier added a single-lane loop from Hebbal towards the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). The new loop from Esteem Mall towards the city will be a two-lane road. The work on the loop will be completed in 15 months (January 2019) and is estimated to cost Rs 50 crore. <br /><br />“Piling machinery has reached the building site and the work started on Tuesday,” P N Nayak, Engineer Member, BDA, told DH. The BDA is also building an underpass at the junction. The agency has shelved its earlier plan to dismantle the loop that links KR Puram from the Hebbal side, he added.<br /><br />In May 2016, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Bengaluru Development Minister K J George had laid the foundation stone for upgrading the flyover and constructing the underpass. But the government shelved the project as it wanted to build the controversial steel flyover from Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal.<br /><br />Nayak insisted that the delay had not escalated the cost as the contractor, PJB Engineers Private Limited, had agreed to stick to the earlier estimate. <br /><br />The BDA official, however, conceded that widening the flyover was a temporary solution. The passenger car unit (PCU), which stood at 30,000 in 2016, has gone up to 50,000. It will increase further in the coming days. <br /><br />According to Nayak, the 83-km-long elevated signal-free corridor being built by the Karnataka State Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) and the BDA will run above the Hebbal flyover and directly connect the national highway. The Hebbal flyover will then be used for local traffic.<br /><br />Traffic congestion likely<br /><br />The construction is likely to cause traffic snarls in front of Esteem Mall and towards Hebbal. “We have told the traffic police to close the roads as and when required,” Nayak said. <br /><br />Underpass work delayed<br /><br />Meanwhile, the BDA has delayed the work on building the underpass under the Hebbal flyover following an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The underpass from the Tumakuru side towards KR Puram on the Outer Ring Road was planned to make the junction a signal-free corridor. <br /><br />The NGT has banned construction within 75 metres of the periphery of all waterbodies in the city. The underpass runs parallel to, and within the specified buffer zone of, Hebbal Lake. <br /><br />DH News Service</p>