[BeantownThinker]

Pretty soon we will have to put up such a sign for Bangalore as well.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

Pretty soon we will have to put up such a sign for Bangalore as well.

Instead, I would say a hoarding with a caption "IT companies, think beyond ORR, Sarjapur, Whitefield, expand elsewhere!"

I got a taste of what a mess the ORR traffic is between Marathalli and Bellandur last Monday when I had to meet someone at RMZ Ecoworld.

I deviated via Jakkur main road to escape the white-topping disaster and joined ORR at Nagawara. To my surprise even the Tin factory section was quite manageable at that time of the day (10:00AM) and I was wondering why Google predicted 1h55m from Yelahanka to RMZ Ecoworld when I am already at Doddanekundi in under an hour from Yelahanka but the surprise was after this

• So there is a cut in the median soon after descending the flyover where vehicles coming from Marathalli side turn right to get into Bagmane IT Park
  
  
• Then the U-Turn and in front of ISRO ahead creates slow moving traffic right from the Doddanekundi Railway underpass
  
  
• If you manage to cross this, the next big one awaits, atop Marathalli Bridge
  
  
• If you thank god and your luck to have successfully crossed this, a series of jams follow - Innovative Multiplex (closing the median never helped), Kadubesanahalli all the way to Bellandur - Thanks to multipe IT parks on both sides
  
  
• The last 9 Kms was showing me more than an hour that morning and I was magically trying to find out a broken down BMTC Volvo or a Sand Lorry but to my surprise everything was normal and still crawling!!!

The concentration of IT parks around ORR reminds me of this:



And the entry and exit to these IT parks resemble this:



And then I also hear a prominent IT company from EC will move its entire operations to their Sarjapur Road campus. The rants shall continue and this thread is indeed an epitome that reflects it!

[drive2eternity]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I got a taste of what a mess the ORR traffic is between Marathalli and Bellandur last Monday when I had to meet someone at RMZ Ecoworld.

How could you accept such a meeting?
The entire section you have mentioned is blocked from 7:30 AM to 11 AM. Yes, that's peak time traffic. And then from 3:30 PM to 10 PM.

Sarjapur road will definitely become the talking point of this rant thread soon. Apartment after apartment, followed by massive tech parks. It is one road which I find jam packed, be it weekday or weekend. I never dare venturing on Sarjapur road.

My friend from Delhi once asked me to get some biscuits from Anand sweets for him. I googled and realized the only Anand sweets in my vicinity is the one on Sarjapur road. I knew I would never be able to successfully complete this task but an app - Daily help chotu or something came to my rescue.

[vharihar]

Given that Blore ORR is ultra-narrow (yes, 3+3 lanes is ultra-narrow, given that there are no sufficiently broad alternate routes that are (approximately) parallel to the ORR some 1-2 kms away from it, and hence all vehicles end up coming to ORR), I have been crying hoarse to abolish the concept of a segregated service road and instead merge it with main carriageway. Benefits. We would then get:
- A 5+5 lane ORR with broader footpaths.
- Skywalks that emanate from and terminate at those footpaths as opposed to terminating bween svc road and ORR (along with gentle ramps without elevators instead of steps + non-functional elevators, bcoz a wider/spacier footpath would enable gentle ramps as in Thane).
- Exiting-from and merging-onto ORR would be a non-issue (as opposed to a near 90 degree turn that one makes today at select openings to exit, when we have a *segregated* svc road)
- Being a broader 5+5 lane ORR, U-Turns can be enabled at several places without conflicts (with traffic islanding, as at ISRO junction)
- One-ways would be automatically ensured (as opposed to the situation today in a *segregated* svc road, where at several places you have a one-way intended, but yet often rickshaws, tanker trucks, 2-wheelers, etc violate the one-way)

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by drive2eternity

How could you accept such a meeting?

So I could then head to EC to my workplace instead of being there near RMZ in the evening and then take more time to reach back home. I chose the wise one. But you know why at times such meetings are accepted .

The entire section you have mentioned is blocked from 7:30 AM to 11 AM. Yes, that's peak time traffic. And then from 3:30 PM to 10 PM.

I earlier was a regular visitor to Yemalur till 2015 and would deviate off ORR at ISRO to reach Old Airport Road.

Prior to this, I had worked at one of the organizations inside RMZ Ecospace (2007-2008) and things were still bearable (except Tin Factory) despite of no existence of any flyovers/underpasses from Sarjapur Jn all the way to Tin Factory.

Sarjapur road will definitely become the talking point of this rant thread soon. Apartment after apartment, followed by massive tech parks. It is one road which I find jam packed, be it weekday or weekend.

Absolutely. Weekends is unpredictable mainly because there is no pattern of traffic unlike regular weekdays. I have noticed how a supermarket witnesses rush on this road on a weekend. Forget about the dust all around. I am sure the highest number of deliveries of Jopasu Duster in Bangalore would be happening in the Marathalli - Bellandur - Sarjapur belt .

I dread venturing on Sarjapur road ever.

For less mortals like me, I dread to think of crossing anything beyond Hebbal these days, and especially on a weekend.

Being an earlier bird (early bird is now passe') has helped me beat most of the messy sections despite of a one way journey that is 40 km.

[sairamboko]

Wipro moving to Sarjapur road is a bit concerning for me. I stay in an apartment near that place. I start by 7:10am and reach my office by 7:30. Evening around 4pm start and reach by 4:30pm. I need to plan for next year seeing how things goes around this locality as I will be commuting from hosur.

[speedmiester]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Instead, I would say a hoarding with a caption "IT companies, think beyond ORR, Sarjapur, Whitefield, expand elsewhere!"

The tax benefits of a SEZ is too great to ignore for Tech and IT firms.
The management doesn't really care about the employee as most decision makers have option of WFH, flexi timings, chauffer driven cars.
(Straight from the horses mouth)

So the mess is here to stay and will not go away in the near future.


I am glad that I moved away from the tech industry at the right time.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

The management doesn't really care about the employee as most decision makers have option of WFH, flexi timings, chauffer driven cars. (Straight from the horses mouth)

Hit the nail on the head!

When our office moved here, the 'official' reason given was 'better office, more space to expand, etc.'

Of course it was JUST a mere co-incidence that out of the 3 key decision makers, 2 of them just happened to own a villa and an apartment in the residential section attached to the SEZ. And the other chap comes to work (when he does come in to work and is not off flying first-class to the US), in a chauffeur-driven Innova! People keep trolling government babus and ministers accusing them of making policy decisions to suit their ends, I think it's pretty prevalent in the private sector too.

Originally Posted by speedmiester

The tax benefits of a SEZ is too great to ignore for Tech and IT firms.

Again, this a business reality. I suppose one must be grateful that the business does continue to run and we retain our jobs. I guess if the commute is really such a hassle, we should be prepared to put our money where our mouth is and quit.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by vharihar

I have been crying hoarse to abolish the concept of a segregated service road and instead merge it with main carriageway.

Excellent suggestion. But there isn't anyone to listen. Planners feel their job is done. Traffic police, BBMP feel it is their karma to maintain existing infrastructure. Normal folks are concerned about their commute today and at best tomorrow. They rarely think next month, year. Even if they think, they can't do much.

[androdev]

Is it fair to say traffic in non-IT pockets is reasonable by Indian big city standards? I visit Peenya regularly and traffic in that region has improved tremendously compared to the days before Nice road and elevated road on Tumkur road. I used to take Tumkur road to go towards Hassan and it used to be a nightmare. After the railway bridge near Taj Yeshwanthpur was built, that whole industrial area has become fairly smooth.

The trouble is all the political bigwigs bought land around ORR and built lot of office space for IT companies. Then they built high end residential projects to cater to all CXO crowd. Even Brigade Gateway, one of the best projects, struggled to pull IT companies. It's only because the CXO crowd and senior employees prefer their office close to their villas and their kids schools, etc. Can't blame them. What I am trying to say is that the big guys have got themselves covered the suffering is only for the bottom of the pyramid.

[BeantownThinker]

Originally Posted by androdev

Is it fair to say traffic in non-IT pockets is reasonable by Indian big city standards?

From what I have seen and experienced, I say not really.

Mysore road is equally chaotic in the mornings and evenings when the entire junta of the garment industry and the SMEs travel to and from their factories. So is the case around Yeshwanthpur and Peenya, both being trading/manufacturing hubs. One of my early memories of Peenya is being stuck in a jam at 12.45 in the night for 1 hour surrounded only by trucks.

It is only in parts of old Bangalore (Jayanagar, Basavanagudi, Rajajinagar, Banashankari, Vijaynagar, etc) that the traffic is not as severe as in the newer parts of Bangalore (ORR, Whitefield, etc)

[FURY_44]

Originally Posted by androdev

Is it fair to say traffic in non-IT pockets is reasonable by Indian big city standards? I visit Peenya regularly and traffic in that region has improved tremendously compared to the days before Nice road and elevated road on Tumkur road. I used to take Tumkur road to go towards Hassan and it used to be a nightmare. After the railway bridge near Taj Yeshwanthpur was built, that whole industrial area has become fairly smooth.

The trouble is all the political bigwigs bought land around ORR and built lot of office space for IT companies. Then they built high end residential projects to cater to all CXO crowd. Even Brigade Gateway, one of the best projects, struggled to pull IT companies. It's only because the CXO crowd and senior employees prefer their office close to their villas and their kids schools, etc. Can't blame them. What I am trying to say is that the big guys have got themselves covered the suffering is only for the bottom of the pyramid.

I disagree with your points that the whole Peenya area and Gorgunte Palya junction have turned stress free. If the Cauvery Junction underpass is one of the biggest blunders, the railway bridge comes in a close second. (It was hurriedly finished off to impress foreign delegates when Bangalore hosted an international investment meet at the BIEC)

It is narrow and poorly constructed that heavy loaded vehicles struggle on it and this creates traffic snarls all the way till BEL circle and also on the opposite side.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by FURY_44

I disagree with your points that the whole Peenya area and Gorgunte Palya junction have turned stress free.

I think androdev did not mean 'stress free' but meant relatively reasonable traffic movements compared to other metros or other BLR IT hotspots like Sarjapur/Marathalli or grossly inadequate roads like Banerghattta Road.

In my experience as a non-IT person who rarely ventures into the black holes of IT, BLR traffic is still not too bad when compared to most of Mumbai and parts of Kolkata and Delhi. At least traffic moves!

I of course agree with your sentiments on that dratted railway bridge!

[bikerzindia]

Originally Posted by sairamboko

Wipro moving to Sarjapur road is a bit concerning for me. I stay in an apartment near that place. I start by 7:10am and reach my office by 7:30. Evening around 4pm start and reach by 4:30pm. I need to plan for next year seeing how things goes around this locality as I will be commuting from hosur.

Buy a bicycle/battery powered bicycle!! You shall beat all the traffic odds. All the guys/gals in the 4 wheelers would be envious of the cool corporate Biker

[fordday]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

In my experience as a non-IT person who rarely ventures into the black holes of IT

black holes of IT

Originally Posted by am1m

When our office moved here, the 'official' reason given was 'better office, more space to expand, etc.'

Same with us last year. Our company hired a specialist movement agency and those guys created a sort of huge campaign on why it is good to move to ORR. That the new campus will be more agile, more productive more this more that.

Originally Posted by am1m

Again, this a business reality. I suppose one must be grateful that the business does continue to run and we retain our jobs. I guess if the commute is really such a hassle, we should be prepared to put our money where our mouth is and quit.

Agree that is the reality. It makes little sense to complain and do nothing.

Originally Posted by bikerzindia

Buy a bicycle/battery powered bicycle!! You shall beat all the traffic odds.

A good one will cost you near about a lakh of rupees. See this.