BBMP mulls twin flyovers in South Bengaluru alongside decongestion plan

Civic authorities are planning to build two flyovers in southern Bengaluru — a 2.5-km elevated stretch on Kanakapura Road from MN Krishna Rao Park and a second one from Banashankari Market to Sarakki Junction.

Amid cautions on car-centric projects with shorter shelf-life, both flyovers assure bypassing of seven signals.  

Last month, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) floated tenders to prepare a feasibility report and a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for both projects, which come at a time when the civic body is working on a comprehensive infrastructure plan to decongest traffic in Bengaluru.

A part of Kanakapura Road is connected with Namma Metro’s North-South corridor. The stretch on which flyovers are proposed runs parallel to the metro’s Green Line.

Motorists believe that the proposed flyovers would ease congestion since the stretch from MN Krishna Rao Park to the Outer Ring Road is riddled with multiple manned and unmanned intersections.

However, construction in the proposed site would be a challenge since it is narrow and requires land acquisition, a major reason for delays in similar infrastructure projects.

“There are at least six signals between Krishna Rao Park and Banashankari temple. Some of them are traffic bottlenecks. It gets narrower while heading closer to the Banashankari junction,” a local resident said.

“A flyover may reduce travel time on this stretch, but the project needs to be looked at holistically,” he said, adding that the traffic congestion is worse at the Banashankari market and needs urgent attention.

But for people who do not depend on personal vehicles, the presence of the metro in the area assures easy commute.

A senior BBMP official said that the project is in the conceptualisation stage. “We are now studying the financial and technical feasibility of the project,” M Lokesh, Chief Engineer of the BBMP’s project cell, told DH.

The study appears to be an outcome of the meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who was reviewing different projects pertaining to southern Bengaluru, where there was a suggestion to build flyovers to decongest traffic on Kanakapura Road.

Is JC flyover proposal dropped?

The BBMP is rethinking its earlier plan to build a 1.8-km flyover on JC Road at an estimated cost of Rs 270 crore.

The nearly decade-old proposal has been revived several times, but shelved due to high costs, it has been learnt.

The flyover had promised a signal-free journey across seven junctions, including Minerva Circle, Town Hall, and Hudson Circle.