More than one-and-a-half years ago, the city was given the dream of hassle-free walking through some of the most congested areas.
At the end of November, stretches along St. Mark’s Road and Cunningham Road will showcase what could be, but those at Residency Road and K.G. Road are still in the chaos of the transformation. The new promise, given by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is that all the 12 roads, totalling 11.4 km, will be completed by June-end.
“Shifting of utilities has turned out to be the biggest hassle in the project. However, now we have sorted out the issues with other utility providers (primarily Bescom and BWSSB) and work is in full swing,” said Basavaraj R. Kabade, BBMP’s Executive Engineer (Traffic Engineering Cell).
While work on Richmond Road started just a week ago, the rest of the roads (see graphic ) are nearing completion – even though some deadlines have been missed. “Even on St. Mark’s Road and Cunningham Road, only small works such as lane markings and cat eyes remain. We’re hoping to complete all works by March-end,” he said.
Roads in next phase
The State government has already announced a list of 50 more roads – many of which are away from the Central Business District – where footpaths will be built up under the TenderSURE model.
BBMP says the entire list of roads is yet to be approved, as the emphasis is to ensure connectivity with existing TenderSURE projects. It was only after completion of Detailed Project Reports that BBMP will approach the State government for funds.
