On racing days particularly, motorists on Racecourse Road are unable to take advantage of the free left turn thanks to the tens of hundreds of cars and two-wheelers that are allowed to park between the Khanija Bhavan and the Bangalore Turf Club ticket counter. It is another matter that there are no signboards at this junction even after it had a makeover recently.
Among the busiest
Some 12,000 vehicles pass through the Racecourse junction every hour, making it among the busiest in the city. The redesign provides for free left turns for those coming from Basaveshwara Circle, Ananda Rao Circle and Shivananda Stores.
However, parking of vehicles around the junction, especially on the race days, makes it impossible for motorists to use the free left privilege.
Clueless
Moreover, very few know that motorists coming from Shivananda Stores can take a u-turn towards Crescent Road and Kumara Krupa Road and also a right turn towards the Ananda Rao Circle. This junction is eventually slated to become a “(traffic) signal-less” junction.
There are no signboards at the junction to guide the motorists, except for one opposite High Grounds Police Station that urges them to go slow.
No signage
“The problem is more acute for those coming from Shivananada Stores. Absence of signage indicating free left is making motorists going towards Basaveshwara Circle use the right lane and then the left,” said Gopi K., a motorist.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic and Security) Praveen Sood said the police are helpless.
“There is not enough parking space for the thousands of vehicles that come during the races,” he said.
