Chock-a-block traffic on Wednesday afternoon.
Credit: X/@east_bengaluru
Bengaluru: Traffic slowed to a crawl till Wednesday afternoon on the Hebbal flyover and the Outer Ring Road (ORR) due to swelling office crowd, road-widening and metro construction works.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic, North) DR Siri Gowri also inferred that people could have chosen the Hebbal flyover since high police presence would ensure constant traffic movement towards the airport.
“So, they tend to avoid alternative roads such as the Thanisandra-Hennur Road or the Bhoopasandra-New BEL Road stretches to or from the city,” she added.
Traffic crawled in the morning in ORR’s eastern section, with an account on X called @east_bengaluru stating: “Huge traffic jam on ORR today! The entire stretch from Bagmane to Silk Board, Iblur to Doddakannelli is fully clogged! (sic).”
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic, East) Kuldeep Kumar Jain attributed the congestion to vehicle breakdowns. He said at least six buses and light motor vehicles stopped due to mechanical failure on ORR until 2.30 pm.
“Ongoing roadworks are another factor, combined with the regular Wednesday traffic,” he added, noting that this was not unusual.
On their X handle, the traffic police notified commuters of several breakdowns, including a lorry on the ORR at Veerannapalya junction towards Manyata Tech Park and a private bus on the way to Kadubeesanahalli on Wednesday morning, besides a KSRTC bus and a lorry on the Hebbal flyover on Wednesday afternoon.