The construction of a flyover at Kerekodi junction on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) has been put on hold after the BMRCL apprised the BBMP of its plans to expand the metro line on the stretch.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to either continue the civil work or shelve the project based on the feedback provided by the metro officials.
Interestingly, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has now said this flyover does not cause any issues to the metro alignment.
Almost a month ago, the BBMP had barricaded the main carriageway between NICE Road junction and PES University (Veerabhadra Nagar signal) to build a 360-metre, four-lane flyover at a cost of Rs 20 crore. It even began civil work by allowing vehicles to take only the service roads. An additional Rs 7.64 crore has been set aside for land acquisition.
The civic body is currently awaiting the BMRCL's report. “We have shared the flyover design and the alignment with the BMRCL. The civil work is kept on hold now. We will resume the work only if the flyover does not come in the way of the metro’s alignment,” said B S Prahlad, Chief Engineer of the BBMP’s road infrastructure department.
Integration
The BBMP has decided to integrate the two proposed flyovers with the upcoming 34-km metro project connecting JP Nagar 4th Phase and Hebbal (Phase III).
While the integration is likely to reduce land acquisition cost, Namma Metro may take at least three to four years to start the work on the ground as it is yet to get approvals from the state and central governments for the project.
Officials said the BBMP will share the flyover’s building cost.
Only two flyovers pose problems
BMRCL Managing Director Anjum Parwez said seven flyovers, which the BBMP proposed to build, are based on the future alignment of the metro construction.
“Of the seven flyovers, the alignment of two flyovers is posing a problem. While one is at Ittamadu junction, the other is at Sarakki junction. We have proposed an elevated expressway and a metro line on top at both these places,” he said, adding that the remaining flyovers do not come in the metro’s way.