'Extend Sirsi Circle flyover up to Jnanabharathi'

 "The best solution, of course, is to widen the roads. The BBMP has identified several encroachments on the stretch. Also, a few trees hinder the road widening work. They should be felled," he told Deccan Herald.

Mariyappa, however, shrugs off the question about how the plan will be implemented. "Our job is only to make suggestions, and it's up to the BBMP to act upon them," he added.

Another option available is extending the Sirsi Circle flyover up to Jnanabharathi. According to a traffic policeman, "This will solve half of the traffic problems on Mysore Road."

A proposal was mooted to extend the flyover by constructing an up-ramp at the Sirsi Circle extending up to Jnanabharathi and a down-ramp at the Kimco Junction for facilitating commuting towards Vijayanagar and Chandra Layout.

Staff shortage

Byatarayanapura traffic police station is hard-pressed to manage the traffic miseries. Spread over four law and order police station limits - Rajarajeshwarinagar, Kengeri, Vijayanagar, and Byatarayanapura - it is short of 12 policemen.

"Among all traffic stations in the City, working in this station is anything but simple. There are only two traffic islands on the stretch. Also, the ongoing road-widening work means we have to slog in the scorching sun for hours," a policeman said.

"The felling of trees has made our job more difficult," he says. Interestingly, a chopped tree trunk dumped on the roadside near Sirsi Circle is enough to embarrass the BBMP if it looks into a graffito, which sermons the public, right behind it: "Preserve the green cover, save the City."

Absence of service roads for diverting the traffic during a gridlock is also a grey area. According to police, constructing such roads could also ease the stretch. "Mysore Road is a good example of bad traffic planning. Hosur Road, Vijayanagar, Jayanagar, and many other areas have alternate roads where vehicles could be diverted during logjams. On Mysore Road there are no alternate roads connecting to the main roads," he added.
Although the police have banned the entry of all heavy vehicles except the buses during the peak hours, the implementation has to achieve a few notches.

"Lorries, trucks, and containers move slow because of their heavy loads. We have banned their entry from 8:30 am to 11:30 am and 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. A blanket ban can also be looked into," the policeman said.

Coordination

The traffic police also believe that better coordination is required between different government agencies so that the stretch can be made hassle-free. They are apparently not happy with the BWSSB's style of functioning. "It started laying the pipelines without getting the mandatory permission from us. This doesn't augur well for Mysore Road," he lamented.

The notorious traffic has also meant that there are frequent accidents here. "Normally, two-wheeler riders are killed or injured in the mishaps. They try to occupy every available space and risk their lives," he said.

He exhorts that commuters should follow the rules. The stretch is expected to be less crammed once the road-widening and metro works end.