The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is soon to start the construction of an underpass below the Hebbal Flyover.
Tenders are likely to be called within a month. This, according to the BDA officials, is because the existing flyover is unable to take the increasing traffic load. But experts opine that this is an unexpected move.
A BDA official told Deccan Herald: “The underpass will be constructed at the cost of Rs 32 crores and will help ease traffic movement from Tumkur Road to KR Puram. Presently there is a signal and the travel time through the signal increases by three minutes. But with the underpass in place, travel time can be reduced to 60 seconds.”
Further elucidating, the official added that, presently the road is at ground level, and the pass is nothing but an addition of another level. The idea is to provide seamless connectivity to the Outer Ring Road and make an entire road that is signal free.
The detailed project report is in its final stages of completion and once done the tenders will be called for within a month.
Founder Member of Praja, Sanjay Vijayaraghavan, said that, there is no such problem with the traffic on this stretch and thus, there is no need to construct an underpass here. The BDA should ideally spend the money some where else to improve traffic snarls.
Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering and CiSTUP, IISc, Ashish Verma, has said that, underpasses and flyovers are not a solution to the increasing traffic problems.
The expansion of the Hebbal Flyover which is not even two years old, along with the BDA stating that the traffic volume has increased, shows that their earlier construction was flawed.
He added that, technically, the construction of an underpass below the flyover is possible, but whether it will actually help or whether it will face the same fate like that of the Sankey Road flyover, is something we have to wait and watch. Building flyovers or expanding roads is but a minuscule solution.
The more the number of roads they build, the more space they create but proportionately more is the number of vehicles on these roads. Thus these solutions are totally unscientific and against the principal of sustainability.