Bengaluru: The reopening of the Peenya flyover for heavy motor vehicles on Monday has brought relief to the notorious traffic congestion on the arterial Tumakuru Road in northern Bengaluru.
The 4.2-km-long flyover was shut for buses and trucks in December 2021 after prestressed cables in two of its spans gave way due to corrosion.
To strengthen the flyover and make it usable for buses and trucks, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has added 240 prestressed cables in its 120 spans. It has also commenced work to replace all the existing 1,243 cables to prevent future corrosion.
To facilitate grouting work, heavy vehicles are barred from using the flyover from 6 am on Friday to 6 am on Saturday.
On the first day, heavy vehicles disregarded the traffic police directive to use the left lane.
Overall though, the reopening has brought relief to vehicle users and the traffic police.
According to Prasanna Kumar, a traffic police officer posted at the flyover, the vehicular movement has become more manageable, though it remains congested during peak hours.
Vasantha, who runs a local mobile shop, remarked: "This is a heavy-traffic area and the flyover is undoubtedly better for citizens to commute. It has significantly helped in better travel."
Nitin, a frequent commuter, shared his experience, saying, "Earlier, I used to dread this part of my journey in my daily commute. A lot of time, I would take a longer route as even that would be quicker than this one if I had to go during peak hours. Now that has changed, not drastically though. If I try to avoid the office rush hours, I know I can cover this patch of my commute painlessly, which was not a guarantee earlier."
Another commuter, Harish, echoed similar sentiments. "It has been a big change for me. I know some people might not agree, but especially the loud honking and yelling during the peak hours has reduced dramatically. It would give me headaches a lot of times, but I had no other choice. Now it is much less of a hassle."
However, not everyone has felt the same level of relief.
Jagadish, an auto driver, pointed out, "There hasn’t been much relief to people who travel here during peak hours, but overall during the weekends, the traffic would be much better."
The speed limit for heavy vehicles is 40 kmph and for light motor vehicles 80 kmph. The NHAI believes many vehicles are flouting it. The agency will install ANPR-like cameras to check sectional speed.
"The flyover is over 4-km long. If any vehicle covers the distance too soon, the cameras will record the speed, and the traffic police will penalise the driver," KB Jayakumar, Project Director, Bengaluru, NHAI, told DH.