[pram_ind]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

What sorcery is this?

Coming Elections I suppose. I have seen roads getting repaired just 6 months before elections and never maintained till the next one.

[rajeevsulu]

On advice that various sections of the ORR were being worked on, I drove via the city from Vidyaranyapura to Electronic city on 25 th Nov. This was at 5:30 am and was on my way to Erode. I found myself at Murugan Idly, Krishnagiri by 7:10.A very pleasant drive indeed!

[shankar.balan]

This morning at about 7 am I saw multiple vehicles including one police Ertiga and one KA Government Innova breaking the traffic signal red light with 30-40 seconds to spare. This wonderful repeated phenomenon of rule breaking was noticed at the Madiwala market signal, then at the Maharishi Vemana road Koramangala signal, then at Agara lake signal, and at the entry to HSR- BDA road from Agara side signal.

And yesterday I noted at 10 am, the whole of the stretch from MG Road Trinity Circle past Command Hospital and the ASC Centre all along the Old Airport Road was blocked off and red signal free for some long convoy of at least 18 cars to pass. All of them travelling at a very high speed, maybe 100kmph. Some sort of VIP movement I guess. I was on the opposite side of the road near Domlur and I am really happy that there is a big divider there. It is pretty scary to see all these Innovas and Scorpios and Police Escort vehicles literally hurtling down that stretch of road.

Basically these observations lead me to surmise that all these traffic rules and speed limits and all, are only meant for the middle class tax paying general public. And if we are in violation of any of these rules, we must pay the fine, without squealing, for the overall betterment of India.

Now isn’t that just fine and dandy?

[gtonsing]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

***Snipped***

Basically these observations lead me to surmise that all these traffic rules and speed limits and all, are only meant for the middle class tax paying general public. And if we are in violation of any of these rules, we must pay the fine, without squealing, for the overall betterment of India.

Now isn’t that just fine and dandy?

Fortunately or unfortunately, tat is what the situation of our country. I have mentioned it before and I still dont understand the logic. If this were Kashmir or some of the NE states where there is rampant terror or underground elements and there is an every existing threat, I would understand locking down entire stretches and parts of a city/town. But Bangalore in particular, is a very safe place and I am sure the threat level is quite low. Why cant we do the same as what is done in US, UK etc - cordon off only those one or two intersections that are in the path and release them immediately. I understand if some of you say traffic wont clear in time - agreed, but cant we atleast attempt something like this to ease the pain of poor citizens who elected them to these powers in the first place and they are supposed to be beneficiaries of the people they elect to power!!

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Better pencil this into your calendars for December 13-17! Hope they hold it in relatively out-of-the-way places like JWM Golfshire or BIEC, else CBD will be at a standstill.

https://www.deccanherald.com/city/be...r-1165167.html

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

And yesterday I noted at 10 am, the whole of the stretch from MG Road Trinity Circle past Command Hospital and the ASC Centre all along the Old Airport Road was blocked off and red signal free for some long convoy of at least 18 cars to pass. All of them travelling at a very high speed, maybe 100kmph. Some sort of VIP movement I guess. I was on the opposite side of the road near Domlur and I am really happy that there is a big divider there. It is pretty scary to see all these Innovas and Scorpios and Police Escort vehicles literally hurtling down that stretch of road.

Better expect many many such convoys for the upcoming G20 meetings. There will be a stupendous amount of security involved given 19 more countries are involved, including the entire 'First World'.

Think of the security protocols and coordination required. Hopefully they will be held away from BLR CBD.

[SoumenD]

So I was at a signal today near EC and it was red with timer still showing around 10 seconds to go for green. But the traffic person there started waving at people to go as there was no traffic at the other side. Now my question is as we know there are cameras at almost all traffic lights which capture car plates for violators. In this case since the traffic warden asked people to move, would the camera behave differently or people can get challan-ed for no fault of theirs? Anybody faced this situation? I see its pretty common in EC atleast.

I did wait for the signal to turn green before moving but by then the good folks behind me showered me with all sorts of adjectives in every language possible as I blocked their way for those 10 seconds waiting for the signal to turn green

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

So I was at a signal today near EC and it was red with timer still showing around 10 seconds to go for green. But the traffic person there started waving at people to go as there was no traffic at the other side. Now my question is as we know there are cameras at almost all traffic lights which capture car plates for violators.

This generally happens at Veerasandra signal (near EC) which is also the last stop signal in Bangalore city limits for road users driving out of the city. If the outflow of vehicles is more, traffic wardens and traffic constables allow vehicles to move on ignoring the signals. The cameras in this junction are NOT capable of automatically detecting a violation and recording the same. It is manually operated from the control room. So we can hope that the traffic police men on duty have informed the control room on wireless that they plan to ignore the signals and push more traffic. Generally such messages are sent out and confirmation is taken from control or superior officers. And in such cases the signals are changed to 'blinking orange' mode. That does not happen in Veerasandra signal though.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

...

Think of the security protocols and coordination required. Hopefully they will be held away from BLR CBD.

Not sure that would be possible.

While the new terminal at KIAL should hopefully help minimize air traffic chaos, I doubt the Taj on airport premises and the Marriott @ Prestige Golfshire (Nandi Hills Rd) even combined have the capacity to handle the delegations coming in.

[itwasntme]

https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.c...w/95864729.cms

ORR service roads to be one-way only.

[The Falconist]

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

The best on Bengaluru traffic chaos I came across, was a Joke on the same. It goes as -
"I hired a Cab to go to my home from office. On the way I saw my neighbour walking. I offered him a lift which he declined politely saying He is in a hurry"

Oh this is no joke!! In the pre-pandemic era, I have refused and have been refused offers of car drops to the Eco World ORR entrance multiple times. One time even a visiting American gent wised up to the perils of the Eco World internal road-jams within days and chose to walk to the adjacent Marriott. I have, in fact. parked near Sakra a couple of times to avoid getting stuck inside Eco World.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by The Falconist

One time even a visiting American gent wised up to the perils of the Eco World internal road-jams within days and chose to walk to the adjacent Marriott. I have, in fact. parked near Sakra a couple of times to avoid getting stuck inside Eco World.

Fellow 'Eco' World survivor here. We used to get visiting colleagues from the US head office too. Subservient India management and HR of course thought the foreign sahebs would need an air-conditioned car to transport them from the adjacent Marriott to the office. Very quickly the visitors realized it was far easier and faster to walk the 1.5km.

Worst commute of my life for two and a half years, glad to be done with it! I used to leave home before 7:30am to avoid traffic and often would even get stuck in a jam while returning post-9:30pm, trying to avoid the internal 1km traffic jam inside 'Eco' World. Eating all 3 meals at the food court was normal and unhealthy for those 2 years.

How is it these days with the Metro construction going on? A lot of folk (middle managers who need people back in the office- to keep their jobs intact!) were optimistic that with good planning, there would not be much impact and that the barriers will be removed on schedule (2025). I'm not so optimistic. Not that I ever plan to take a job that would require me to travel to that part of the city again, at least not till the Metro is finally done (my realistic estimate- 2030), but I'm thinking of visiting some former colleagues for lunch one of these days.

[binand]

Originally Posted by am1m

How is it these days with the Metro construction going on?

I don't work there, but I take that road when I go to Sarjapur side / return from there (my kids' school is that way). I see they've blocked off one carriageway and route all traffic through the other while repair works are going on. Last I checked, this starts soon after Honeywell and goes on till almost the APR road junction. I imagine this would've been a killer during normal days.

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by am1m

How is it these days with the Metro construction going on? A lot of folk (middle managers who need people back in the office- to keep their jobs intact!) were optimistic that with good planning, there would not be much impact and that the barriers will be removed on schedule (2025). I'm not so optimistic. Not that I ever plan to take a job that would require me to travel to that part of the city again, at least not till the Metro is finally done (my realistic estimate- 2030), but I'm thinking of visiting some former colleagues for lunch one of these days.

Cheer up buddy, you are being needlessly pessimistic . Bangalore Metro construction is going on in full swing. The ORR metro barricades outside Ecospace, etc stretches will be removed in early 2024 or maybe even earlier, excepting "station regions" which'll be the only bottlenecks as station construction takes time. Simultaeneously track construction etc will be going on but that'll be happening atop the UGirders and therefore cause 0 disruption.

So many works are happening on Blore metro and at good speed, that an operationalization can be expected of some phase or the other every 3-6 months henceforth for the next 4 years. Here's a realistic estimate per infra nerds who are watching this closely ...

1) Mar 2023: Whitefield-KRPuram (Purple line extn part 1)

2) Sep-2023: KRPuram-BYP (Purple line extn part 2)

3) Mar-2024: Nagasandra-Madavara (Green Line extn)

4) Jun-2024: RV Rd-Bommasandra (Yellow Line, this may be phased too)

5) Dec-2024: Gottigere-Dairy Circle (Pink line part 1 - Elevated)

6) Jun-2025: Dairy Circle-Pottery Town (Pink line part 2 - UG)

7) Sep-2025: Silkboard-KRPuram (Blue line Phase 2A)

8) Mar-2026: KRPuram-Airport (Blue Line phase 2B)

9) Mar-2026: Pottery Town-Nagawara (Pink line part 3 - UG)

[am1m]

Originally Posted by vharihar

Cheer up buddy, you are being needlessly pessimistic . Bangalore Metro construction is going on in full swing. The ORR metro barricades outside Ecospace, etc stretches will be removed in early 2024

Awesome! It'll be great if that happens, but having seen the deadlines overshoot consistently, will still remain skeptical.

(Btw, I'm a huge Metro fan, been using it in Bangalore since 2011, so am rooting for it. But the reality is they have never met a deadline they haven't missed yet.)

[aadya]

Originally Posted by am1m

How is it these days with the Metro construction going on? A lot of folk (middle managers who need people back in the office- to keep their jobs intact!) were optimistic that with good planning, there would not be much impact and that the barriers will be removed on schedule (2025). I'm not so optimistic. Not that I ever plan to take a job that would require me to travel to that part of the city again, at least not till the Metro is finally done (my realistic estimate- 2030), but I'm thinking of visiting some former colleagues for lunch one of these days.

Need not be so pessimistic. Metro work is quite fast as the viaducts are precast. By the pace of the work and if the elections do not dampen the spirit it should be up and running by 2024. I am planning to book my next car by travelling to one of the showrooms in ORR or hoodi/graphite india junction by travelling in Metro.