A view of the flyover on Tumakuru Road.
Credit: DH file Photo
Bengaluru: The Peenya flyover is reopening for heavy vehicles on Monday (July 29) after nearly three years, according to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The 15-metre-wide, 4.2-km-long flyover in northern Bengaluru has been closed to buses and trucks since December 2021 after prestressed cables in its three spans gave way due to corrosion.
The closure has seriously affected vehicular movement on the arterial Tumakuru Road, the main entry/exit point for vehicles from the north. On weekends, vehicles pile up for several kilometres as people head out of Bengaluru.
"Heavy vehicles can use the flyover from 6 am on July 29," KB Jayakumar, Project Director, NHAI, Bengaluru, told DH. He noted that the NHAI headquarters had approved the reopening based on an evaluation of the site and traffic conditions, as well as the recommendations of a four-member expert committee and the traffic police.
As reported by DH last week, heavy vehicles will be prohibited from using the flyover once a week to prevent vibrations during ongoing cement grouting works.
While the NHAI has added 240 prestressed cables in the 120 spans of the flyover, it is also replacing 1,243 existing prestressed cables to prevent future corrosion, as recommended by the committee.
"We have recommended that the flyover be closed for buses and trucks for 24 hours per week — from 6 am on Friday to 6 am on Saturday," MN Anucheth, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), told DH. The traffic police will soon issue a notification about the reopening, he added.
According to Anucheth, the top speed on the flyover will be restricted to 40 kmph, as per the NHAI's recommendation.
Traffic police, equipped with speed radar guns, will be stationed on the truck lay-bye to enforce the speed limit.
"We need to enforce the speed limit through speed radar guns because the flyover doesn't have AI surveillance cameras," he stated.