Metro Phase 2 will let West Bengaluru breathe in peace

 

For many first timers in Bengaluru city, the thing they first hear is tales (horror to be precise) of the chaotic Bengaluru traffic. Stories of vehicles being stuck for hours on an end and of major roads turning into bottlenecks during peak traffic have become hallmarks of the city

 

In fact, when it rains the city almost comes to standstill, so say even the autorickshaw drivers of the city.

 

Bengaluru is the most favoured destination of the IT and Biotechnology sector employees. India’s Silicon Valley, Incubation hub etc are just some of the names that the city is also known as. So definitely the constant swell in its population will be reflected on the roads and then on the vehicular congestion in the city.

 

Next what matters is a way out of this congestion. Mumbai, Maharashtra is known for its efficient suburban train network which helps in reducing the traffic load in the city. In fact, there the Metro rail system is still in its nascent stages with many daily travellers depending on the city’s suburban train network.

 

 In Bengaluru, the case is different. Bengaluru’s Namma Metro has just started operating in the city and is available in few stations only.

 

In the East-West corridor, these are the routes that are currently operational :

Baiyappanahalli - Swami Vivekananda Road - Indiranagar - Halasuru - Trinity - Mahatma Gandhi Road - Cubbon Park - Vidhana Soudha - Sir M. Visveshwaraya -Kempegowda - City Railway Station - Magadi Road - Hosahalli - Vijayanagar - Attiguppe - Deepanjali Nagar - Mysore Road

 

 North-South corridor

Nagasandra - Dasarahalli - Jalahalli - Peenya Industry - Peenya - Yeshwanthpur Industry - Yeshwanthapur - Sandal Soap Factory - Mahalakshmi - Rajajinagar - Kuvempu Road - Srirampura - Mantri Square Sampige Road- Kempegowda - Chickpete - Krishna Rajendra Market - National College - Lalbagh - South End Circle - Jayanagar - Rashtreeya Vidyalaya Road - Banashankari - Jaya Prakash Nagar - Puttenahalli

 

The route from Sampiege Road to Puttenhalli is expected to be completed by next year.

 

What is noticeable by its absence is the West Bengaluru Metro corridor.

 

According to a report, the Karnataka government has decided to decongest Bengaluru's IT corridor by fasttracking the 18-km long Metro Rail line that connects Central Silk Board Junction with KR Puram.

 

The ₹3,600-crore line has been included Phase 2A of the Metro project. The new line, called the Outer Ring Road Metro (ORR Metro), will have 13 stations and will link HSR Layout, Bellandur, Kadubeesanahalli, Marathahalli, Doddanekundi and Mahadevapura.

 

Listed below are some of the traffic affected stretches in West Bengaluru

• Some of the most clogged stretches in that affect West Bengaluru traffic is the KR Puram stretch, the traffic at Silk Board and Marathahalli
• The KR Puram stretch connects Bengaluru to Kolar; it is part of the Outer Ring Road that connects North and West Bengaluru to East Bengaluru. If you are stuck on this stretch of road then plans of reaching your destination will be extended by close to an hour and a half.
• The flyover between KR Puram and Marathalli has resulted in traffic near Doddanekundi.
• The stretch between HSR Layout, Bellandur, Kadubeesanahalli is also clogged because of the IT Parks on either side of the ORR.
• Hebbal faces a huge traffic on weekdays and weekends because of Manyata Tech Park and traffic approaching from the airport. Hebbal-KR Puram-Doddenakundi –Marathahalli- Kadubeesanahalli-Bellandur- HSR Layout-Silk board: You cannot imagine how a pretty  much straight road can pose so much of problems.

 

Now that Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) has talked about making the metro Phase 2 bigger, it will definitely mean traffic congestion on these roads will be eased once the metro is functional but till then there is no respite for Western Bengaluru.