A new signal-free corridor is being planned to link West of Chord Road and Outer Ring Road at Mahalakshmi Layout. The project is expected to include three flyovers and an underpass over a 2.9-km stretch at an estimated cost of ₹120 crore.
The civic body is finalising the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and is expected to call tenders for the first phase of the project in the coming week. The project is being pushed by local MLA and Food and Civil Supplies Minister K. Gopalaiah, who recently defected from the JDS to the BJP. He recently said the project will be fast-tracked on a priority basis.
Bengaluru has developed in concentric circles, with several parallel roads circling it, which are connected with radial roads like spokes in a wheel. West of Chord Road and Outer Ring Road are two such key arterial roads. They are connected at two points – Shanimahatma temple junction and Goraguntepalya junction – 10 km apart.
“Those living between these points, including people in key residential areas like Rajajinagar and Malleswaram, have to travel all the way to these two points to connect to ORR. To correct this, we are now making a signal-free corridor at the midpoint of these two ends near Mahalakshmi Layout,” explained B.S. Prahlad, Chief Engineer, Road Infrastructure, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
The 2.9-km long Pipeline Road near Mahalakshmi Layout, which connects Kurubarahalli with Chord Road, will be converted into a signal-free corridor. However, building grade separators on this road will not be an easy task. The road has a main pipeline for water supply and a high tension electric wire as well as a stretch of parks above the water pipeline.
“We will not disturb the water pipeline, but wherever we are building flyovers, the high tension wire needs to be elevated further. KPTCL has already conducted a spot inspection and will soon submit an estimate of the cost for the same,” said Nandeesh, Executive Engineer, Road Infrastructure, BBMP.
In the first phase, BBMP will build an 800-metre-long flyover over the Vrishabhavathi Valley’s stormwater drain (SWD), which will connect Pipeline Road to the ORR. In the second phase, BBMP plans to build multiple grade separators at Nandini theatre junction, Shastri Tutorials and the Rajkumar statue junction.
“We are yet to decide which junctions will have pairs of unidirectional flyovers and which will have an underpass,” a senior civic official said.
