The picturesque Ambedkar Veedhi road with some of the most imposing buildings in Bangalore such as the Vidhana Soudha, High Court and General Post Office (GPO) will be closed to traffic a month from now.
The closure of the road is to facilitate Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to take up work on the underground section of the Namma Metro project, which is scheduled to commence from mid-December.
The BMRCL said it had written to the Public Works Department (PWD) to shift the statues in front of Vidhana Soudha to complete work on the construction of alternative roads.
While the statue of Subash Chandra Bose has been removed, two more statues are yet to be removed, BMRCL Chief Public Relations Officer Yeshwanth Chavan told The Hindu on Wednesday.
He said once the statues are relocated, the BMRCL will complete work on both alternative roads — one leading from Gopala Gowda Circle to GPO and another from near the KGID Building. When the alternative roads are asphalted, Ambedkar Veedhi will be closed for traffic for at least two years.
Apart from the underground stretch, BMRCL will have a station between the High Court and Vidhana Soudha.
Motorists, office-goers and visitors, who invariably make a beeline to Ambedkar Veedhi to get a glimpse of the buildings, will have no other go but to take the alternative roads.
Mr. Chavan says work on the alternative roads was on and the stretch adjacent to the Vidhana Soudha (Gopala Gowda to GPO Circle) was almost complete barring a small portion.
Work on the road cutting across the lawns of the High Court has started and is expected to be completed in a few weeks' time.
Motorists wanting to come to High Court or to Gopala Gowda Circle from Cubbon Road will have to take this road.
