Diverted traffic may slow down road to airport

Diversion to help speed up work on another road.

Reaching the new Bangalore International Airport (BIA) or getting out of it might not be a smooth drive in the near future. Reason: Traffic from the Bangalore-Tumkur road will be diverted onto the highway leading to the BIA.

Union minister of state for road transport K H Muniyappa, who reviewed the road projects taken up in Karnataka under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), told reporters last week: “Work on the mega project pertaining to the construction of a 14 km-long four-lane elevated highway between Bangalore and Nelamangala has not been able to gain pace because of the heavy traffic flow. We have proposed to overcome that problem by diverting traffic.”

According to the minister, vehicles coming from Tumkur to Bangalore will be diverted at Dobbspet towards Devanahalli, where the BIA is located. Majority of these vehicles move towards Tamil Nadu, and they will get onto the BIA road at Devanahalli to hit the Outer Ring Road.

The minister defended the move stating: “That is one of best ways of expediting work on the elevated highway project. Moreover, the BIA road is capable of taking additional traffic load.” The elevated highway project is supposed to be completed by the end of 2009.

Another reason that is likely to make driving a not so pleasant an experience on the BIA road is the construction work to be taken up by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on the six-lane elevated road between Hebbal and Yelahanka at a cost of Rs 450 crore. Work on the project will start in November and is supposed to be completed within 24 months, Muniyappa said.

On the inconvenience to be caused to those traveling to BIA, Muniyappa tried to downplay it: “These projects have been conceived to address future needs.” However, he chose to remain silent on poor design of the existing BIA highway, which has witnessed over 100 road accidents and claimed more than 25 lives since the airport became operational on May 23 this year.

The highway has turned into a dangerous zone as it has no subways, railings and proper lighting. The minister said the highway will get safe pedestrian crossing in another three years, but that after the elevated road is completed.

This apart, the NHAI has proposed to build an expressway between Chennai and Bangalore. “This will be a greenfield project. Consultants will be appointed to fix the alignment for the expressway by using satellite images,” Muniyappa added. The expressway will be designed for traveling at 120 kmph and would cost around Rs 15 crore to build one km.