Rants on Bangalore's traffic situation

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by sairamboko

Huge pile up near eco space at this time !! Was stuck in it for 15 mins!!

That was due to a truck breakdown, quipped a friend who was stuck there for almost half an hour.

Ever since the Traffic restrictions were brought in, I've felt that the time I take to cover the distance between Sarjapu Rd signal and Kadubeesanahalli on ORR has gone up.

[Soumyajit9]

Signals are back on Marathalli bridge
It has the timers on, but no one was obeying it till yesterday evening. Guess traffic cops have to come and do some
I have now started taking the below routes on my return commute from work:

PSN > Hoodi > HP Enterprise > Marathalli Underpass > Silkboard.
Else, PSN > Graphite India > Alpine Eco > Marathalli Underpass > Silkboard
Else, PSN > Graphite India > Railway Crossing > Marathalli Underpass > Silkboard
Else, if all fails, PSN > Varthur > Carmelaram > Sarjapur > Agara > Silkboard

In all scenarios I am now avoiding going upto Marathalli bridge to take left to ORR. Kundanahalli to Marathalli bridge is choked from 6 am (when I go to work, seeing the opposite lane) till 3 pm (when I return).

Although the jam is now on the marathalli bridge, I am extremely happy that the U-Turn infront of Innovative Multiplex has been closed, almost permanently (apologies for folks going to and fro Munnekolaka). There used to be chaos with bus stop on the left lane and u-turn on the right lane, effectively leaving no space for vehicles going straight.
Ofcourse our biker fraternity have removed some blocks in the median to find gaps and crossover. Motorists, watch out for these idiots on the fast right lane.

[deehunk]

Today morning while driving to my office in Domlur encountered a group of 4 army men probably in their 20’s driving a Honda City bearing registration number HR51 AB 315x near the ASC center. They looked young, but a totally irresponsible bunch of idiots, just after exiting from their campus gate, the driver took a blind right turn towards Domlur bus stop ignoring the number of vehicles which were on the right lane a couple of meters before the junction. They were least bothered about what they did and were enjoying inside the car. Wonder what kind of job they do with an army with such attitude.

[Soumyajit9]

And just after I ranted about the chaos on Marathalli bridge, I read this article which says that the chaos is going to stay forever.

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga...w/50778225.cms

The last month has been nothing short of frustrating for commuters on Outer Ring Road, Marathalli, ever since traffic police opened up a turning on the Marathalli Bridge for those going from HAL to Kundalahalli.


Techies, residents, and locals alike claim the congestion on ORR has been severe from as early as 7am and 5pm on weekdays - much before peak hours generally begin - but the cops claim this is a temporary menace in view of a long-term solution. Six other openings at the centre median along ORR have been closed, with a view to allow traffic to flow unhindered except at major junctions.

The bone of contention for commuters is that despite the presence of a turning after the bridge near Nava Prajna Public School on HAL Airport-Whitefield Road, officials opened up a turn at the junction atop the Marathalli Bridge, allowing motorists to take a right to Bellandur/Kundalahalli, left to Kartik Nagar/ISRO, or go straight towards HAL.

Cops have said that a traffic signal is in the process of being set-up at the junction, following which the turns opposite Innovative Multiplex and Thulasi Theatre will also be closed. The new U-turn is expected to benefit commuters plying from Kundalahalli to KR Puram or Bellandur, and from KR Puram to Bellandur. However, this has reportedly been causing jams and blocking traffic movement up to 10pm, leading affected motorists to vent on social media.

"It is chaos in the early hours as well. The situation was much better before; I don't understand the point of allowing the right/U-turn when there is a turning from ORR. It may be a little longer but it saves much more time and fuel," posted a commuter, Dhruv S Pandit.

Making matters worse is the presence of two bus stops opposite MGA Hospital and adjacent Pavan Sagar hotel on the bridge, just after the U-turn.

"I think the major reason for all the jams are the bus stops immediately after the junction on both sides of the road. These BMTC drivers stop in a haphazard way right in the middle of the road leading to a traffic pile-up," management professional Prijo Paul added.

Having conducted several spot visits and chalked out a strategy, additional commissioner of police (traffic) MA Saleem said the idea was to close the multitude of centre medians currently present along ORR.

"Instead of having traffic pile-up for several minutes at different locations, we thought it would be feasible to allow commuters to make U-turns only at major junctions. This is why we have closed all other openings and will allow turnings only at Marathalli, Kadubeesanahalli, Devarabeesanahalli, and Bellandur junctions, and nowhere in between. We will also be shifting both bus stops near the junction forward by 100 metres each to prevent congestion," he added.

The signal is expected to be in working condition by the end of next week. Until then, four traffic police personnel attached to the HAL Airport police station have been deputed at the turning on the bridge and near the bus stops to man the situation from 7am to 10pm.

[sachinpk]

I liked this idea of stopping the heavy vehicles from entering the city when some big-wig event is happening. Perhaps a cheap gimmick to show the visiting delegates that every thing is prim and proper in Bengaluru. What needs to be done is to upload some "real" videos of how the traffic in these areas are; onto YouTube etc.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

I liked this idea of stopping the heavy vehicles from entering the city when some big-wig event is happening. Perhaps a cheap gimmick to show the visiting delegates that every thing is prim and proper in Bengaluru. What needs to be done is to upload some "real" videos of how the traffic in these areas are; onto YouTube etc.

What it really shows is the hollow argument of helplessness the bureaucracy throws out every time they're asked to do this for the common folk. It's pretty obvious they can do it if they really want to.

[aqualeo2040]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

Is is only me or have others too noticed that barring the entry of private buses and trucks have reduced traffic near silkboard to a large extent..

Same here. I drive from Sanjaynagar to Dairy Circle.
I think the idea of keeping the long distance buses out of the city center is really good
1. It reduces congestion and crazy moronic stopping/parking
2. Enhances BMTC revenue


That said, I almost attended the Global Investors Meet today. Took me 1.5 hrs from Sanjaynagar to Cubbon Park!!!
I might have as well parked my car, given a keynote speech, woken up Siddaramaiah and driven back to work.
If this is the case with the city traffic, who will come to invest ?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by aqualeo2040

I think the idea of keeping the long distance buses out of the city center is really good...

This is just a short-term measure for the Global investors meet, things will be back to "normal" once this is over so all the excitement will be short-lived.

[anand_saraf]

Saw a really bad driver, driving very rashly, Honda city.. Worst combination. Was aghast and saddened after that to see team-bhp sticker on his rear-end. Could only keep my cool by clicking a photo and ranting here..

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by aqualeo2040

I think the idea of keeping the long distance buses out of the city center is really good
1. It reduces congestion and crazy moronic stopping/parking
2. Enhances BMTC revenue

This is what they did it in Chennai. A huge bus stand was built at Koyambedu which is a suburb of Chennai, and all long distance buses just asked one fine morning to operate from there. I guess it was Jayalalithaa who was the CM, and her orders were like cast in stone. Without a murmur all private bus operators complied.

[NPV]

Just when things seemed to be improving in the Whitefield area with recent asphalting of some stretches, couple of new "digging" spots have appeared this week
1. Monday evening saw BWSSB guys (who else, they're back at it again!) digging near the junction of the last cross road on right side of Graphite india road, the one just before ESI and the ABB junction. This had just started having an impact on traffic when I went past the place. Don't know the status after Monday as I've been avoiding that route

2. Today (Wednesday) morning, bang in the middle of the Hoodi signal junction (near Devasandra Road), there is an island of mud that has been dug out from the middle of the road, don't know what this is for

[sidzz]

What i saw in the morning today was something weird.
A red car (maybe Accent) was waiting with hazard lights on, opposite Prestige Shantiniketan. A traffic cop rushed from the other side and snatched the key from the window. The person inside was perplexed as he was talking on phone.

I do not know the entire story but this is all I saw.

Maybe there was a parking issue. But I have only seen police warn people and make them move away.

Lately in the ITPL area police has become very vigilant towards wrong parking. Last week I saw a traffic cop puncturing a cab's tire as it was parked right near the entrance of SJR iPark. They have also started lifting wrongly parked 2 wheelers.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by sidzz

A red car (maybe Accent) was waiting with hazard lights on, opposite Prestige Shantiniketan. A traffic cop rushed from the other side and snatched the key from the window. The person inside was perplexed as he was talking on phone.

Most likely the traffic police man would have shown some gestures or even yelled asking the car driver to drive away. But he was too busy on the phone and would have ignored the request. And the policeman got wild, and snatched away the keys. The perplexed look of the driver is because he would be too engrossed in the phone call, that he did not know what was coming .

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by NPV

2. Today (Wednesday) morning, bang in the middle of the Hoodi signal junction (near Devasandra Road), there is an island of mud that has been dug out from the middle of the road, don't know what this is for

When I saw this I had no words to say. Someone should file an RTI or make this matter serious. How the hell can someone dig up such a freshly laid road.

[audioholic]

As if the daily hold up in front of ecospace was not enough, today there was this incident of a Punto driver rear ending an Amaze because the Zen in front of the Amaze had braked. Very foolish of the punto driver here trying to argue without accepting his fault. Some people get too close in bumper to bumper traffic and before they realise that the vehicle in front has braked, they would have hit the car ahead. I usually maintain enough gap that lets my car crawl ahead without me having to ride the brake or half clutch. Gives me enough time to come to a calm stop. This distance I greatly increase when I have an Indica taxi behind me. Damned things never brake properly