Six years ago, on October 16, thousands of citizens and activists got on the street to form a human chain to oppose the construction of the steel flyover between Chalukya (Basaveshwara) Junction to Hebbal. The project was dropped after public backlash.
Today, as the civic body under a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime, which then in Opposition opposed the steel flyover, brings back the proposal, civic groups at the forefront of opposition to steel flyover, are again angry that the project is being revived. They unanimously say that an alternate road to the airport and fixing bottlenecks on Ballari Road, along with improved public transport facilities will work better for the stretch than any flyovers.
“With all the damage that has already been done, this will be another dagger in the heart of the city. We have to consider the environmental cost and the future opportunity cost. Flyovers and road widenings are no longer considered to be interventions to reduce traffic anywhere in the world. We already have 54 flyovers in the city and how will an extra one solve the problems,” said Srinivas Alavilli, with Janaagraha, then at the forefront of Citizens for Bengaluru, who opposed steel flyover and advocated for public transport — suburban rail and buses.
Lack of options
Activists question why even after over a decade of the inauguration of the airport, there are no public transportation options to the airport, except for BMTC buses. They pointed out the slow progress of the metro as well as suburban rail projects which could reduce the traffic congestion along the airport road.
“Traffic is not the problem in the city, it is the inadequate public transport. It was a bad idea six years ago and it is a bad idea today. What we need is suburban rail and metro connectivity to the airport,” said activist Tara Krishnaswamy, also from CfB.
Conceding that Ballari Road needs fixing bottlenecks, transport expert Sanjeev V. Dyamannanavar said the biggest problem was that there were no uniform lane widths, which needs to be corrected immediately.
“At the Windsor Manor junction, traffic comes from six lanes, but there is only a two-lane road. The bridge there either has to be rebuilt or the flyover near BDA should be redesigned. The bureaucracy needs to consider all of these things before taking up such a huge project,” he said.
Published - October 17, 2022 10:22 pm IST
