Before plane takes off, potholes take over in Bengaluru

Hennur-Bagalur Road promises a shortcut to Kempegowda Airport — but delivers chaos, craters, and costly delays

Earlier this month, a resident of Hanumanthappa Layout left for the airport at 2.30 am for an early morning flight. However, despite leaving three hours ahead of time, he missed his flight — thanks to the road he took. The Hennur-Bagalur main road landed him in two potholes, leaving him with a bent tyre rim.

“It was a blind spot, right at a turn where there were no streetlights. The pothole was like a crater and the right tyre fell right into the middle of the pothole. The rim of the tyre got bent, leading to a flat tyre,” Debashish Panda told DH.

“What’s surprising is that the potholes weren’t at that spot when I had taken the same road to the airport two weeks prior.” he added.

The Hennur-Bagalur Road, touted as an alternate road to Kempegowda International Airport, has remained a commuter’s nightmare for almost a decade now. From periodic flooding to pothole menace, the road is the least efficient route to commute to the airport, say residents from around the locality. “Apart from saving on paying the toll charges, there is no other benefit the road provides. A faint spell of rain, and there is about 2 feet of water accumulated at multiple spots on the route. Because of this, the potholes become invisible and driving here becomes more dangerous. I’d much rather take the Hebbal route. It might take 15 minutes longer, but it’s much safer,” says Subramanian K, a Hennur resident. 

Cab drivers also agree, with many refusing to take the route to get to the airport.

“Early on, we would prefer the route as it would allow us to save some money. Plus, with the better roads, it was much quicker. But now the roads are so bad that it ends up damaging the car. With most of us buying our cars on EMI, we can’t afford to keep paying for such damages,” said Tausif Pasha, a 36-year-old cab driver. 

However, exploring options beyond Hebbal is a necessity, he said.

“Last week, after it rained, it took almost three hours to get to RR Nagar from the airport. Getting to the airport hasn’t been smooth ride either. Because of a large number of people constantly travelling to the airport, the toll queues are getting longer by the day. Some evenings, the toll queue is over 15 minutes long,” he added.

Cab drivers specifically complain about longer queues at the toll booths between 4 pm and 8 pm. 

What’s the solution?

Alternate routes to the airport are the need of the hour, according to Srinivas Alavilli, Fellow, WRI India.

As a short-term solution, he suggests a shuttle service between Hebbal and the airport.

“Currently, most of the airport trips are through Hebbal, and that’s causing a chokehold in that area. While we develop alternate routes, we can look at the possibility of organising frequent BMTC AC shuttles from Hebbal. Shared transport can help reduce the traffic blocks and improve safety on the flyover,” he said.  

Architect and urban designer Naresh Narasimhan opined that the government must promote existing alternate routes, such as the Satellite Town Ring Road, whilst improving the Nagawara access road. If the aim is to improve the traffic congestion on the Hebbal flyover, he suggests an additional bridge.

“A 1.2 km long suspension bridge from the Esteem Mall up to Bangalore Baptist Hospital can help ease the congestion. Other than this, the possibility of expanding the Hebbal flyover is limited due to the lakes on either side,” he added.

However, according to Ashish Verma, professor, IISc, Sustainable Transportation Lab, any intervention done to the flyover to improve congestion will only have a short-term effect.

“Making more roads is not the solution. It won’t help manage the traffic if the number of vehicles on the road keeps increasing. Instead, the authorities must focus on getting the Metro and Suburban Railway up and running,” he said.

After recent rains commuters didn’t dodge traffic — they waded through it.

BMTC takes the back gate 

Of the 17 existing Vayu Vajra routes only two are directed to the back entrance of Kempegowda International Airport — KIA-8E (from Electronic City) and KIA 15 (from Whitefield). The rest pass through Hebbal and get to the airport through the main entrance. The BMTC soon plans to divert more buses to the back entrance.

“The plan is to divert some of the buses coming from Electronic City to the Hennur-Bagalur road towards the back gate of KIA to avoid crowding on the Hebbal flyover. With growing residential development on the Hennur-Bagalur stretch there is demand for more services and also the route will be much quicker” said G T Prabhakar Reddy Chief Traffic Manager. 

Temporary solution

While Hebbal flyover’s new ramp which provides extra carriageway for vehicles coming from KR Puram towards Mekhri Circle can ease the traffic congestion in the area it is not a permanent solution for the traffic bottleneck according to Siri Gowri Deputy Commissioner of Police Traffic (north). “People prefer Hebbal because they’re comfortable with the route. It’s up to the government to make the alternate routes that already exist just as comfortable and accessible” she said.

MLA proposes elevated road

Former minister and KR Puram MLA Byrati Basavaraj stresses the need for road improvement in his jurisdiction. “The Hennur-Bagalur Road is an important route but much of the white-topping and other road work is yet to be executed. I’ve spoken to the authorities concerned about this” he tells DH. 

A 12-15 km elevated road starting from the Hennur bridge can help divert traffic from the Hebbal flyover and also improve the condition of the alternate route he proposes. Speaking on the lack of street lights on the Hennur-Bagalur stretch he said “Up until my jurisdiction the roads are well-lit. No has taken responsibility for the rest of the route.”