Does the Bengaluru police’s traffic concerns matter to the BBMP? Apparently not. Despite the city police requesting the civic body not to take up TenderSURE work on Residency Road till the work on other three roads are completed, BBMP has gone ahead and started work on Residency Road.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) T. Dayananda had earlier written to BBMP raising concerns that the shrinking carriageway of major arterial roads because of TenderSURE works would increase the traffic congestion in the area. He had suggested that the work on the three roads where work was under way, should be completed first and its effect on traffic flow be seen before continuing with TenderSURE work on other roads. However, Mr. Dayananda said that BBMP had informed them recently of the work being taken up on Residency Road. The work taken up there has increased the travel time of motorists because of bumper-to-bumper traffic.
The work taken up on the stretch of road has shrunk the carriageway of the road by at least six metres forcing heavy traffic load into a narrow carriageway, says Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic East) M.N. Babu Rajendra Prasad. He said a slow moving traffic on Residency Road and St. Mark’s Road has had a ripple effect across the area, leading to slowing down of traffic across the central parts of the city.
Sanath Kumar, a cab driver stuck in a traffic mess on Residency Road, said that reduction of carriageway of such important arterial roads in the central part of the city only adds to the chaos.
A traffic official at the junction said that the road earlier witnessed bumper-to-bumper traffic during peak hours. “But now, the traffic problems have increased exponentially. It is terrible when the educational institutions on the road commence and close for the day,” he said.
