Rants on Bangalore's traffic situation

[kaushik_s]

Today again there was a traffic jam at Kadubeesanhalli underpass around 12pm. Traffic was stuck as it used to be during Bellandur flyover construction days. Jam was till the other flyover. Hope it got cleared by now as I couldn't see if there was any issue other than trucks, buses and other cars fighting over to get into the underpass first from extreme left.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Today again there was a traffic jam at Kadubeesanhalli underpass around 12pm. Traffic was stuck as it used to be during Bellandur flyover construction days. Jam was till the other flyover. Hope it got cleared by now as I couldn't see if there was any issue other than trucks, buses and other cars fighting over to get into the underpass first from extreme left.

Kaushik, there was a jam yesternight also at the same place, in the opposite direction. Today morning I saw what has been causing this issue. Earlier there was the fighting to get into the narrow underpass lane and that was causing sufficient problems. Now there is a new problem to add to this.

If you recall, there is a road running perpendicular to ORR above the underpass. That traffic on that road used to pass on the bridge and rejoin ORR immediately after the underpass (via the single lane on the top). For some reason, the underpass bridge is now closed for perpendicular direction traffic. All of them are now forced to use service road near Kanti sweets and they join ORR near Ivy / Baskin robbins. This new "junction" is now a hot spot with traffic from all directions trying to join ORR from the service road entry outside Ivy hotel / Prestige tech park, thus choking ORR/ ORR underpass traffic in both directions. Cops are helplessly trying to control the junction but obviously it doesn't work.

Looks like this issue will not go away until and unless the underpass bridge is opened again. Till then I will use Koramangala - old airport road to get to office. I'm absolutely in no mood to waste 3-4 hours on the road everyday (in the hot sun) from Bellandur to Kadubeesanahalli, would rather travel 5km extra on the other route.

[benbsb29]

Kadubeesanahalli junction was the same mess this morning as well, around 9AM. Somehow nothing seems to be working despite the efforts from the cops.

[KarthikK]

I took the old airport road route today to commute from my home in Jayanagar to ITPL via Jayanagar > Sagar Apollo > Forum > St.Johns > IRR > HAL old airport road > Marathahalli > ITPL.

This route made me travel 2.6 km more than the usual route along Silk board -> ORR but I covered the whole distance in just 1 hour! no jams at Kadubeesanahalli, no jam at BTM-silk board, no sun tanning sessions, just plain cruising. There are more signals on this new route but they are all functioning as they should, so no blockages anywhere, apart from a little slow moving traffic at EGL entrance.

I am shifting my commute route to old airport road until all the flyovers/underpasses in all directions are opened on ORR. Happy to burn fuel travelling extra distance rather than burn fuel idling on a stopped vehicle in the hot sun

P.S - @anyone who travelled by ORR towards Marathahalli today morning - did yesterday's downpour cause another underpass flooding at Kadubeesanahalli?? Curious to know whether today was a repeat of last wednesday's fiasco.

[praful]

I have stopped taking the ORR almost completely for my HSR-Whitefield commute. Its been almost 5 months now. I don't think I'd get back to ORR until the construction work is complete and the cops have stopped playing jigsaw with the under/over passes. Earlier I used to take ORR for my early morning commute to work now I've stopped that too.

Best to take alternative routes, even if they take a little longer or have more signals. Commuting on 2 wheels has its perks of taking the relatively narrower routes. My commute time for 14Kms is 20-30 mins now, which I think by Bangalore standards is pretty good.

[Selective]

Even I have changed my route to office from today. I travel from JP Nagar 8th Phase to Mahadevapura ORR. As I have experienced long traffic jams from Iblur till JP Morgan, my travel time is more unpredictable now a days. It varied from 1 hr (with zero jams) to 2.5 hrs (with jams from Iblur till JPM).

Today, I took BTM>Silk Board>St.Johns>IRR>Old Airport Road> Behind ISRO (left turn road right after Logica signal)>Joined ORR (at 7 Hotels). Total time taken, 1 hr 10 mins. There was slow moving traffic at HAL, but this route is more predictable and takes almost same (minimum) travel time. I will stick to this route until things improve at JP Morgan.

I heard from my colleague that the usual traffic jam at JP Morgan took almost 45 mins to cross.

[Mad Max]

Originally Posted by binand

Well, you see - (several of) the ancient rulers and the Britishers weren't really worried about the lot of the people of India, so they could get away with building architectural marvels. Post-independence India's leaders couldn't afford such a high-handed outlook in what was then a bankrupt nation, so built only utilitarian stuff. Things like, you know - Konkan Railway, Bhakra & Nangal Dams, the Bokaro steel plant, Nava Sheva Port (JNPT), Tarapur Atomic Power Plant, Hyderabad & Delhi new airports, the city of Chandigarh, the Jamnagar oil refinery and so on. None of these would win awards for being "architectural marvels" as you call them, but they all contribute to the much-touted "9% growth" that we apparently are experiencing.

Your condescending tone aside, I was not deploring our culture or our country by any means. After seeing your list, I am sincerely proud of our country's achievements in the post-freedom years. Here's a list of the projects you mentioned and their wiki references

Bhakra Nangal dam - completed 1970

Bhakra Dam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bokaro Steel Plant - completed 1972

Bokaro Steel Plant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nava Sheva Port - inaugrated - 1989

Nhava Sheva - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tarapur Atomic Power Station - started 1963

Tarapur Atomic Power Station - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

City of Chandigarh - designed ~ 1960s

Chandigarh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jamnagar Oil refinery - completed late 2011?

Jamnagar Refinery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hyderabad airport - opened 2008

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

New Delhi airport - not sure of modernization timeline

Indira Gandhi International Airport - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Konkan Railway - full route completed by May 1998

Konkan Railway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As you may see from the above, and as I stated, I was just observing that in the last 20 years or so, we've really not thought through or kept the momentum in building either utilitarian buildings or "architectural marvels". To say the very least, in Bangalore, if you happen to see the BDA complexes that are built, they are the prime example of "how to not build a commercial complex". Dark and narrow staircases, weird entry / exit points, no scope of expansion or re-alignment and fixed / rigid facilities. Now, if only the BDA had spent a bit more time on creating a better structure (almost all of Bangalore's IT industry follow a pretty good template for commercial construction), they'd have a really long-lasting, flexible and (hopefully) aesthetic building on their hands where businessmen would really want to setup their wares. Instead, its become a half-market, half-bazaar with goons and touts hanging around all day.

My point is, we as a nation of engineers combined with our cultural heritage, should be able to do much better than harp on something we did 50 years ago. Have you seen the paintings on the underpasses in Bangalore ORR? Silly stuff, really! (purely subjective - I am pretty sure there are others that admire these paintings) Instead of probably providing really nice / aesthetic lighting or even reflectors, they paid someone to paint really grotesque pictures all over the walls which became dirty / vanished at the first sight of rains!

And yes, the Konkan Railway is one of the most beautiful stretches I've seen and it's definitely an architectural marvel! (so, I take back my word of "not even ONE architectural marvel")

Mods: Please delete post if this is too off-topic. Apologies if so.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

If you recall, there is a road running perpendicular to ORR above the underpass. That traffic on that road used to pass on the bridge and rejoin ORR immediately after the underpass (via the single lane on the top). For some reason, the underpass bridge is now closed for perpendicular direction traffic. All of them are now forced to use service road near Kanti sweets and they join ORR near Ivy / Baskin robbins. This new "junction" is now a hot spot with traffic from all directions trying to join ORR from the service road entry outside Ivy hotel / Prestige tech park, thus choking ORR/ ORR underpass traffic in both directions. Cops are helplessly trying to control the junction but obviously it doesn't work.

Is there any alternative for people starting from Sarjapur Road/Belandur Area to avoid Kadubeesanahalli to get to Marathahalli? I was thinking of the road from Sarjapur Road(Before Carmelaram) which reaches Kadubeesanahalli. But looking at the above system looks like that route also will not help bypass the JP Morgan Jam. I am going to shift to an office near Marathahalli soon and I live in Belandur/Sarjapur Road area :(

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Is there any alternative for people starting from Sarjapur Road/Belandur Area to avoid Kadubeesanahalli to get to Marathahalli? I was thinking of the road from Sarjapur Road(Before Carmelaram) which reaches Kadubeesanahalli. But looking at the above system looks like that route also will not help bypass the JP Morgan Jam. I am going to shift to an office near Marathahalli soon and I live in Belandur/Sarjapur Road area :(

There is one route but I don't know the current state as it has been a few months since I've used it.

At bellandhur take left towards the lake. Follow the lake and cross the narrow bridge. After crossing the narrow bridge go straight and take a right. Follow the HAL airport boundary.

This winding road finally ends at a junction after HAL office and half a km before the brand factory store near the IOC bunk on old airport road.

It's longer route and has one bad patch of road.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

At bellandhur take left towards the lake. Follow the lake and cross the narrow bridge. After crossing the narrow bridge go straight and take a right. Follow the HAL airport boundary.

This winding road finally ends at a junction after HAL office and half a km before the brand factory store near the IOC bunk on old airport road.

It's longer route and has one bad patch of road.

Thanks for reminding. I actually use this route all the time to go to Old Airport Road. Forgot that I can turn right instead of the left that I usual do and reach Marathahalli

This road is in decent shape. The bridge can be a bottleneck, they are constructing a new one. No idea when it will finish. Thinking more on this, I think it is actually probably shorter by a couple of km than having to go on Ring road due to the long distance to go to take the U Turn.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

I took the old airport road route today to commute from my home in Jayanagar to ITPL via Jayanagar > Sagar Apollo > Forum > St.Johns > IRR > HAL old airport road > Marathahalli > ITPL.

Originally Posted by Selective

Today, I took BTM>Silk Board>St.Johns>IRR>Old Airport Road> Behind ISRO (left turn road right after Logica signal)>Joined ORR (at 7 Hotels). Total time taken, 1 hr 10 mins. There was slow moving traffic at HAL, but this route is more predictable and takes almost same (minimum) travel time. I will stick to this route until things improve at JP Morgan.

I heard from my colleague that the usual traffic jam at JP Morgan took almost 45 mins to cross.

KarthikK, Selective: I think both of you will benefit by taking the route reminded by Vid6639. Once you cross Silk Board, you'll need to stop only at the Logica Signal (Only concern can be the Belandur Lake Bridge)

[binand]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Is there any alternative for people starting from Sarjapur Road/Belandur Area to avoid Kadubeesanahalli to get to Marathahalli?

You could try this route, which is single lane for a major part and prone to small jams, but nothing like the ones seen on ORR:

Outer Ring Rd to Varthur Rd - Google Maps

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by binand

You could try this route, which is single lane for a major part and prone to small jams, but nothing like the ones seen on ORR:

Outer Ring Rd to Varthur Rd - Google Maps

Thanks for mapping it out. That's the same route I mentioned 2 posts above.

Only thing would suggest 2 wheelers to avoid this road at night. It doesn't look very safe traveling at night for 2 wheelers and to an extent even for cars.

[Selective]

KarthikK, Selective: I think both of you will benefit by taking the route reminded by Vid6639. Once you cross Silk Board, you'll need to stop only at the Logica Signal (Only concern can be the Belandur Lake Bridge)

Looks like a good alternative, will try sometime. Only worry is, if we something goes wrong on these interior roads, cops will not be around to manage and situation will go out of control. I am sure, many people are taking this route already!

[kaushik_s]

Today the traffic was normal and reached office in an hour. It's probably because there are around 4 traffic policemen were stationed in front of JP Morgan/Ivy and they were controlling the flow.
There is one route behind Cisco office (which connects Sarjapur road near Wipro office) also but while coming to office it would be of no use as this directly connects to Kadubeesanahalli signal itself and hence would get stuck in the same jam but from a different direction. While going though it's useful although it's around 4.5km extra stretch.

Originally Posted by Selective

Looks like a good alternative, will try sometime. Only worry is, if we something goes wrong on these interior roads, cops will not be around to manage and situation will go out of control. I am sure, many people are taking this route already!

Kiran, you can try this route but there are some bad stretches and road goes via a village. Normally there won't be any traffic jam there as not many people use it.

[rohanjf]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

There is one route behind Cisco office (which connects Sarjapur road near Wipro office) also but while coming to office it would be of no use as this directly connects to Kadubeesanahalli signal itself and hence would get stuck in the same jam but from a different direction. While going though it's useful although it's around 4.5km extra stretch.

If you are going to Whitefield, then you can take right, instead of taking left to join Kadubeesanahalli. Then the road becomes narrow curves right. Then there is a left turn. If you take that, it goes under railway track, and after 3-4 kms, joins Varthur village. There you can take right to reach Whitefield.