The 22.12-km corridor from Baptist Hospital to Silk Board Junction — which is a part of the ambitious elevated network project — will cross busy parts of the Central Business District, intercept the metro’s Purple line and Richmond Circle flyover.
The Karnataka Road Development Corporation had initially planned to begin the alignment from Esteem Mall, however, the tender documents state that the corridor will start from the Baptist Hospital.
The corridor will no longer traverse the Hebbal flyover, which leaves its traffic problem unresolved. The Bangalore Development Authority is building an additional loop at the flyover for the benefit of motorists coming from the airport side but work is slow.
The authorities have a mammoth task ahead of them as the proposed alignment goes through Central Business District areas and busy roads. Construction activities at Mehkri Circle, Richmond Circle, Adugodi and Central Silk Board will only add to traffic congestion.
That apart, the alignment also intercepts operational metro line at Minsk Square where Cubbon Park Metro station is located. The project will also cross Dairy Circle to Nagawara metro tunnel line near Bannerghatta Road.
Threat to green cover
The North-South corridor is likely to take a heavy toll on the green cover on Jayamahal Road and Queens Road. It will run adjacent to Cubbon Park from Minsk Square to Kasturba Road where full grown trees are seen on either sides of the road.
More chaos at Silk Board
Building an elevated corridor on the busy Adugodi, Hosur Road and at Silk Board Junction is likely to test the patience of motorists for years. Traffic movement towards Silk Board is already affected by the ongoing metro construction under Phase II.
The BMRCL is building an intersection metro station that connects R.V. Road – Bommasandra line and Silk Board to K.R. Puram lines. In addition to this, it has proposed to build a flyover at Silk Board junction to decongest the area.
A KRDCL official said, “While designing the project we have taken into consideration BMRCL’s proposal to build flyover at the junction. The elevated corridor will connect with the additional infrastructure that will be built by the BMRCL.”
