Commuters on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) — a ‘high-speed’ corridor — often wonder why it takes them so long to get to their destination. Here is the reason: though signal-free for most parts, the 62-km loop has 53 speed breakers, one per every 1.16 km. With many of them being termed “unscientific”, the speed breakers are said to be contributing significantly to bringing traffic to a crawl along the stretch.
It is a myth that a road hump acts as a pedestrian safety instrument. In fact, it adds to traffic pile-up and causes accidents too. Effectively, an unscientific road hump acts as a large pothole along the entire width of the road. - Renjith Thomas, who geo-mapped all road humps on ORR Irked by the bumpy ride becoming a daily affair for him, Renjith Thomas, a software engineer working off the ORR and a resident of Koramangala, recently decided to geomap all the speed breakers on ORR. The findings stumped him.
Geomapping of speed breakers on the Outer Ring Road in Bengaluru done by Renjith Thomas.
“I knew there were many speed breakers, some unnecessary. But I was shocked to find 53 speed breakers, almost one every kilometre,” he said, adding that this only leads to frequent deceleration and acceleration of vehicles, thus resulting in longer travel time.
In fact, recent studies on ORR have indicated that the average speeds on certain clogged stretches during peak hours can be as low as 4.49 kmph, much lower than the average walking speed, said traffic expert M.N. Srihari.
I agree the road humps are unscientific and add to the traffic chaos on ORR. We want them to be removed. But that can happen only after the civic body provides adequate pedestrian safety measures. - R. Hithendra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) The Indian Road Congress norms clearly ban any parabolic speed breakers on major arterial roads, under which category the ORR falls. “IRC only allows speed breakers on minor roads and residential areas. Any unscientific speed breakers on major roads can be challenged in court,” said R.K. Jaigopal, a member of IRC.
A drive along ORR revealed that most of the stretches leading to important junctions, and almost every bus stop, have multiple speed breakers, essentially replacing traffic signals. Most of them neither have white stripes painted nor road signs cautioning vehicle users, posing a danger rather than a solution.
R. Hithendra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Bengaluru
Is lack of pedestrian facilities a defence?
The Outer Ring Road is a difficult stretch to manoeuvre for not just vehicles; pedestrians too find it a challenge. There are only two, that too recently added, skywalks along the 62-km, signal-free corridor, with no designated bus bays and no pedestrian subways This is being used as one of the reasons for the high number of speed breakers on ORR.
“Most of these speed breakers have evolved over time. As a city, we have a habit of putting speed breakers near junctions, after flyovers and at all points with high pedestrian traffic,” said R. Hithendra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic). He said speed breakers could be removed only after some pedestrian facilities are introduced.
However, experts argue that a speed breaker being a pedestrian safety measure is a myth. “In fact, a parabolic speed breaker will lead to sudden deceleration and acceleration of vehicles, causing more random collisions with pedestrians,” said Prof. Srihari, who argues for a combination of pedestrian signals and skywalks.
Capt. G.A. Poornaprajna, president, ORR Companies’ Association, said the two skywalks put up near Manyata Tech Park and Bellandur under corporate social responsibility had considerably eased traffic congestion at those junctions. Two more are likely to be built at Iblur and J.P. Morgan junctions.
“It is often assumed that pedestrian signals lead to pile up of vehicles. However, simple simulation models show that pedestrian signals reduce travel time than multiple speed breakers,” said Mr. Thomas.
Prof. Srihari said it is imperative on part of the Bangalore Development Authority to provide subways or skywalks at regular intervals as part of road infrastructure on major arterial roads. However, the civic agencies have failed to attract investors to build skywalks in return for ad space. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike too, which is in the process of inviting tenders for 75 skywalks — 25 of them on ORR — has not has much success.
