Let me not write a sentence more than this one, over the daily traffic jam at Kundalahalli Gate, near Whitefiel – Bengaluru: If you are reading this, you know it’s bad.
The good news is that the BBMP is about to launch an ambitious project to not just construct an underpass at Kundalahalli Gate, but also to make signal-free the entire road between Vallara Junction and Hope Farm.
Aha, great — you say. But what about the situation during construction? How do we get in and out of Whitefield when there’ll be a massive pit in the ground at Kundalahalli Gate? Are alternate roads planned? Is sufficient land acquisition done? And is the underpass future-proof?
All legitimate questions, only natural to occur to the hapless Bangalorean.
We met Mr. Somashekara, the formidable Chief Engineer of BBMP (Roads and Infra), and were pleasantly surprised at how much has gone into the planning of the SFC, including the Kundalahalli under-pass. The good CE has extended, nay, solicited, citizens’ involvement in several matters pertaining to the SFC. The project engineer Mr. Basavaraj Kabade, an IIT-Madras graduate, has an effortless grasp of both the large vision and the small detail. We are hopeful that this is going to be one well-executed project.
Whitefield Rising now has an active group leading the dialogue with the BBMP on the SFC — Adequate land acquisition? Provision for side-roads? Foot-bridges? Planning? Clean execution? etc. And we are thrilled absolutely to bits at BBMP’s willingness to lend us their ear. Please click here to see our presentation to the SFC team at BBMP.
How can you, the average citizen, help? If you live in Whitefield, and IF YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE IN ENGINEERING OR CONTRACT-SPECIFICATIONS, write to us at signal-free-corridor@whitefieldrising.org. We want folks in our team who understand details.
IF YOU CAN SPARE TIME: We need volunteers who can monitor the execution, suggest alternate roads, report street-level activities during execution etc. Let us collaborate to make this a model for citizen-government project execution!
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“Aha, great — you say. “, oh dear god, no!
Signal-free corridors are criminal in nature. They put the pedestrians and non-motorised transport users’ lives at severe risk!
This is yet another elitist idea to make cars go faster.
Shocking!
They’re criminal only if there is no provision for pedestrian over-bridges / escalators. We are told that they will be many such over-bridges. Hopefully there will be bicycling lanes as well, not occupied by illegal parking (due to the planned parking spaces). Of course, the plan always is better than the execution, but with enough citizen oversight, it may work out well for all classes of road-users. Cross fingers.
Firstly, no pedestrian over-bridge in Bangalore has an escalator. Which means that the physically challenged, senior citizens are going to go through hell to cross the road.
Secondly, making a road signal-free increases the speeds to dangerous levels, causing harm to all people on the road.
Thirdly, both escalators and cycle are “hopeful” features, while the signal-free portion is a must? Why exactly?
The problem is this. Pedestrians, public-transport users, non-motorised users help the city by reducing traffic congestion. Their NEEDS need to be put on a higher priority. Not motorised users.
And the biggest point is this, no flyover, no underpass has solved traffic congestion. Nowhere in the world. Definitely not in Bangalore (see Hosur Road, Bellary Road, etc. for live examples). The reason is simple – traffic congestion is due to increase in private vehicle usage. So, this is the problem that needs to fixed.
Making a signal-free corridor only encourages more private vehicle usage.
What is the status on this?