The Hindu 26.06.2013
Six roads to get wider, five more to be signal free
Minister says no fresh land acquisition is required
In a bid to ensure smooth traffic flow, the State government has decided to widen six prominent roads in the city.
This
includes the stretch between Mehkri Circle and Windsor Manor junction,
from Benniganahalli to Mahadevpura, Dairy Circle to Sagar Apollo, and
Silk Board junction to near Jayadeva Hospital (till 29th Main Road of
BTM Layout).
Speaking to presspersons here on
Tuesday, city in-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy said the government had
accepted a proposal in this regard from the traffic police, at a
meeting of heads of various civic agencies on Monday.
At
the meeting, it was also decided to widen Nagawara junction and the
Hebbal flyover, as this narrow stretch had become a traffic bottleneck.
However, it was up to the authorities concerned to decide whether to
build a separate structure next to the flyover or widen the existing
one, he said.
‘Two to four months’
According
to the Minister, no fresh land acquisition is required for any of these
road-widening proposals. “The required land has either already been
acquired or there is sufficient government land,” he said.
He
expressed confidence that the projects would be completed in two to
four months, except for the Hebbal flyover, which would take more time.
Signal-free corridors
Mr.
Reddy said there were also plans to develop five signal-free corridors,
at a cost of Rs. 618 crore. These are: Dr. Rajkumar Road (Yeshwanthpur
Circle to Okalipuram Road), Hosur Road (Central Silk Board to Vellara
junction); Outer Ring Road (Mysore Road junction to Central Silk Board);
Old Airport Road (Vellara junction to Kundalahalli via Whitefield), and
Mehkri Circle to Hope Farm via Old Madras Road.
The proposal was before the Cabinet, he said.
Road
improvement work would also be taken up near Vidhana Soudha. Bangalore
Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. had been told to expedite the work near its
project area, he added.
Second bicycle track
Mr.
Reddy said he had asked officials to prepare a proposal for setting up
the city’s second bicycle track in Madiwala. The State would match the
Centre’s grant of Rs. 4.5 crore.
When his attention
was drawn to the sorry state of the bicycle track in Jayanagar, which is
being used as parking space, he said steps would be taken to free the
track for cyclists.