[Added_flavor]

The Oklipuram to Majestic stretch has become a mess due to the flyover construction going on. The fact that it rained yesterday didn't help much.

In addition, a concrete mixer truck got stuck near the height barrier today morning. 3/4th of the truck passed but the concrete mixing equipment got stuck. They were reducing the air pressure on the rear tyres when I crossed it. Took me 40 minutes to cross 1 km today morning.

[balenoed_]

Got this information through our office circular-
Traffic changes in ORR with effect from 3rd Oct, 2016



Not sure why is this change now, as it was all going smooth I believe as of now. Is there some work about to start in this stretch?

[Acharya]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Not sure why is this change now, as it was all going smooth I believe as of now. Is there some work about to start in this stretch?

Ecospace stretch is one of the most difficult one to cross in Bangalore. There was hardly any improvement on ORR traffic movement despite the opening of skywalk at ecospace. I guess this is an initiative to streamline the traffic by controlling access to Ecospace and Eco world offices.

Although, I am not sure if this will solve the situation, at least someone is trying to look into the ecospace mess.

In my opinion, one thing which could significantly help is enforcement of lane rule for public/private Buses. Currently, multiple buses park parallel to each other and block 2-3 lanes wherever possible.

[kiran_cr]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Got this information through our office circular-
Traffic changes in ORR with effect from 3rd Oct, 2016

In my opinion this is already being enforced. But the biggest problem in and around Eco Space and Eco World is cabbies parking on the service road. The service road was narrow earlier, but no one used to park. Now after widening the service road, it has become free for all parking.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by procrj

BTP has closed the U turn to Yeshwantpur railway station when coming from Orion mall side. Hence you need to go all the way upto RNS motors to take that U turn

The old U turn is open now. Not sure if BTP has a time interval/day split for keeping this closed. Will update after a few weeks if there is a pattern.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by procrj

BTP has closed the U turn to Yeshwantpur railway station when coming from Orion mall side. Hence you need to go all the way upto RNS motors to take that U turn

Originally Posted by mazda4life

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Originally Posted by procrj

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Seems to have removed the barricade, opened for U turn towards Yeshwtp. Station. (as seen at 5 pm today)

[airbus]

I went to office after several days. While returning at around 5 pm, there was a traffic jam on ORR from Bellandur to Prestige Tech Park (PTP). When I reached PTP, it was evident that this jam was due to couple of Volvo buses parked in front of PTP. This road design is funny, authorities built underpass for free flow of traffic, then slow down the traffic by allowing buses to stop wherever they want and pedestrian crossing road every few metres, not to mention illegal turns/U-turns by two wheelers.

[itwasntme]

Steel flyover project goes to L&T for 1,791 crores with timeline of 24 months:
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga...w/54572950.cms

Providing seamless commute to airport passengers and reducing peak hour traffic snarls on the busy Ballari road, the state cabinet on Wednesday, approved the controversial steel flyover project from Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal flyover junction at the cost of Rs 1,791 crore. The massive six-lane steel structure, besides easing the traffic flow on the stretch, would leave the IT city high and dry as the project will require the axing of 812 trees along the stretch.


With a huge number of trees marked for chopping, the state’s ambitious project has run into major controversy even before it could take off from the drawing board. Revealing that the cabinet has approved the project, law minister TB Jayachandra said, “L&T has been awarded the contract after serious negotiations. While the initial estimated cost was Rs 1,130 crore, the company had quoted Rs 1,856 crore. However, after a series of negotiations, the cost of the project now stands at Rs 1,791 crore.”

The 6.72 km long flyover will be completed in 24 months and opened for traffic by March 2018, according to Jayachandra. “The project requires about 4 acres of land of which, three acres belong to the government. All through the stretch, about 812 trees will be uprooted for the project. The major species include Acacia, Akasha Mallige and other local varieties,” explained Rajkumar Khatri, commissioner, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) which has been entrusted with the task of execution of the project.

The steel flyover, said to be the first-of-its-kind in India, according to Jayachandra, will have three up-ramps at Raj Bhavan, Maharani College and Mehkri Circle, and four down-ramps – two towards Mehkri circle (one towards Jayamahal and one towards Yeshwantpur); one towards Vasanthnagar (near BDA junction), one towards Vidhana Soudha (connecting Maharani College and Race Course road at Basaveshwara Circle). As many as 2,68,000 vehicles of different types are expected to use the flyover.

Asked if the users of the flyovers will be tolled, Jayachandra said, “Decision on levying of a toll fee on users will be taken at a later stage.” Once completed, the structure will reduce the traffic snarls at Basaveshwara Circle by 62 per cent and by 59 per cent at Mehkri circle. The project is expected to reduce vehicle operating costs considerably.
Sources in the BDA revealed that the weight of the steel flyover segments will be in the range of 10 tonnes to 15 tonnes as against 70 tonnes and 100 tonnes of concrete structure segments. “In case of an earthquake, the steel segment shows greater resistance to tremors. Strength and ductility of steel makes it highly resistant to extreme natural disasters such as earthquakes,” explained an engineer with BDA.

Considering that huge numbers of trees cleared away for the project, BDA has decided to take up large scale afforestation across the city. “60,000 saplings will be planted in various layouts developed by the BDA across the city,” said the BDA engineer.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Steel flyover project goes to L&T for 1,791 crores with timeline of 24 months:
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga...w/54572950.cms

Brace yourself for the pain that will surely last more than 24 months, for more than 6 Kilometers on a road that is perhaps the single most preferred route to the Airport, Hyderabad, Nandi Hills and towns like Doddaballapur and Chikkaballapur from the City center.

Just look at the way traffic has increased on this road in the past 5 years alone - Nothing seems to have changed/affected - Shifting of bus stop beyond Mekhri Circle to Gangenahall, Pedestrian overbridge, closing and re-opening of Cauvery Magic Box and now a bigger mess called Hebbal.

I dread to think of the mammoth of jams the construction phase will create on Bellary Road

[procrj]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

from Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal flyover junction

This is just wasted effort. If the down ramp is at hebbal flyover junction then the traffic will just backup onto this new steel flyover and folks will end up spending almost the same time.Instead of multiple bottlenecks, it will one large bottleneck. Those who benefit are people like me who will spend lesser time at Mekhri circle or Windsor manor/BDA complex while going to and fro in the city.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Brace yourself for the pain that will surely last more than 24 months

Is it coincidence that the project time line is 24 months and the current govt. is in power for the exact same time period? IMHO, this just looks like a money making scheme which the current govt. politicos will use to fill their coffers. Its anyone's guess what will happen to this 'steal' flyover if BJP or any other govt. comes into power during the next elections.

Pretty soon, the best route to get to airport would probably be via Yeswantpur - HMT road - Vidyaranyapura or Nagawara - Thanisandra main road - Kogilu/Bagalur depending on which side of bellary road you are on.

[srishiva]

I would have hoped they would come up with a steel flyover plan for KR Puram to ease the messs before one for airport road.

Ecospace traffic has improved a lot especially during morning time. Its just the evenings when the traffic moves slowly starting from Ecospace till Iblur.

[NPV]

The halt station at Hoodi is set to open today. Hope this helps commuters on suburban & short distance trains who work in and around whitefield.

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/13565911

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I dread to think of the mammoth of jams the construction phase will create on Bellary Road

Parag, I dread my commute now and shudder how much longer it will take. However, one interesting detail from an old Deccan Chronicle article is as follows (highlights mine):

The work on the steel flyover is expected to take two years but is unlikely to cause any traffic issues on the crucial road to the airport during the first one and a half years, as most work on the flyover will be prefabricated in a factory. The foundations laid and the pillars erected in the last six months, when the traffic is likely to be disrupted.

The steel flyover project will end up demolishing three flyovers, an underpass and two skywalks that are en route the alignment.

The Sankey road flyover near BDA office, the two flyovers at Veterinary College and CBI office junctions will be demolished apart from the now-closed-for-traffic magic box at Cauvery junction and two skywalks near Sofia School junction and near HMT Bhavan. The underpasses at Windsor Manor and Mehkri Circle will remain.

Will anyone who finds the approved design/plan post it here please? BDA is yet to update their website and I'm not holding my breath for it!

Since it is a massive six-lane structure, I expect pillars on either side (on the pavement) and not on the current road. That should be some relief!

[procrj]

Originally Posted by NPV

The halt station at Hoodi is set to open today. Hope this helps commuters on suburban & short distance trains who work in and around whitefield.

Hope they get more trains from SBC & YPR to stop here. There was also a plan to extend passenger trains which run from KR Puram to various places to start from Byappanahalli. If this is also done, then one can easily take the Metro to Byappanahalli and get to Hoodi using the suburban trains, which will drastically reduce commute time. Also need to see how they plan last mile connectivity between Hoodi station and ITPL/Graphite India.

[pratyush6]

Not a Rant - Just sharing my experience:

2 Days and 2 Completely different experiences:

I travel from Byapanahalli to EC Phase 2 for work and my timings are flexible. The total distance is about 25 kms one way through Indiranagar and Koramangala. Yesterday, I left home at 6:50am and reached EC Phase 2 at precisely 7:20am - Thats 25kms in 30 mins, while obeying the red lights Yes, the tolled flyover does make a massive difference but it is the same at pretty much all times of the day.
Today, I left late- around 9:15am and reached at 10:30am. The last 10 kms always take 10-12 mins, so the first 15 took me an hour. Absolute chalk and cheese.

Also, I have a suggestion for people in general (not just Blr) - Most of our problems on road exist because we don't set our expectations right. I mean, I should know that if I leave late, there is going to be more vehicles - implying more monkeys on the road and hence I should expect more circus on the road. And there is no point trying to fight it.

Switch on some nice music or a podcast and drive in a lane. Don't look at your watch and you will be just fine. Worrying, cribbing, fighting is only going to make your day worse. At the end of that drive you would find a bit more peace, I do.

In one sentence - Set your expectations right and you would do fine.

Cheers!