The worsening traffic snarls along Kadugodi Road due to white-topping has left citizens in a quandary as the alternative routes take much longer for them to reach their destinations.
For several months now, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has been doing the white-topping between Hope Farm and Belathur via Kadugodi Road. The work has hit regular commuters, especially those headed to the IT corridor of ITPL and Whitefield, who reside in the Kadugodi ward and its vicinity.
Commuters could take two alternative roads to get around the traffic jam on Kadugodi Road. One is via Seegehalli in KR Puram and another via the Hoskote highway to reach Hope Farm and other parts of the city.
Commuters, however, lament that they do not serve any purpose. The first route is too narrow for cars to navigate, while the second one is very long. "I take two hours to reach office going by the Seegehalli route," said Nivya Swaminathan, who resides in Kadugodi.
"Since the road is too narrow — and everyone takes this route to escape the traffic jam on the Kadugodi Road — it's clogged. Without traffic, I should take just 40 minutes to reach office," added Nivya.
No prior notice
Ramya, another commuter along the route, said the white-topping began without any prior intimation.
"The delays are only adding to our misery. The traffic police seem to have no plan on how to manage the traffic here at Kadugodi Road. Commuters themselves figured out the alternative routes," she said.
The traffic police should at least think of stopping the trucks while the white-topping work is going on as they compound the commuters' misery during the peak hours, Ramya added.
A BBMP official revealed that the white-topping project was stalled due to temporary suspension of the work by the civic administration. "It's not just in Kadugodi, but also in other places where the white-topping work was taken up," he added.
He said half of the work has been done and the remaining will be completed soon.