BENGALURU: In 2003 when then Chief Minister S M Krishna inaugurated the clover-loop Hebbal flyover, he had termed it as his “dream come true” in making Bengaluru a model city. In 13 years, Krishna’s dream has turned into a nightmare for motorists. During peak hours, it takes nearly 20 minutes to just cross the flyover.
According to a police officer, over 1 lakh vehicles pass over the flyover during the peak hours.
“Earlier, traffic at Kempapura Junction used to clear around 10.30am, but now it is smooth only after 11.30am,” he said. Unprecedented growth in north Bengaluru, especially after KIA started operations in 2008, is among the major reasons for increase in traffic density.
The flyover, designed in 2000, has just not been able to deal with the high volume of traffic.
It currently has three lanes for vehicles heading towards the airport and two lanes for those coming towards the city.
Vehicles coming from the airport on the three-lane carriageway of the elevated road and the two-lane carriageway of the ground-level road converge near Esteem Mall leading to a gridlock.
All these vehicles have to fit into the two-lane carriageway of the Hebbal flyover as they climb up, choking the traffic at the flyover entrance.
On the way to the airport, vehicles coming from K R Puram and Tumakuru Road too join the traffic coming from Mekhri Circle side.
Vehicles coming from the flyover and those coming from Tumakuru Road get blocked near Esteem Mall. BMTC and private buses and cabs further squeeze the space.
The absence of a foot overbridge or a skywalk for pedestrians to cross the busy road is putting their lives at risk, apart from adding to the traffic chaos. As the traffic is stopped to allow people to cross the roads, vehicles pile up on both sides.
The BDA has already taken up a project to make room for two more lanes on the flyover for traffic heading towards the airport.
“As of now, we have three lanes for traffic going towards the airport and two lanes for the traffic coming towards the city and that is causing a bottleneck. We have taken up the project to make it a four-lane road for vehicles coming towards the city,” P N Nayak, engineer-member, BDA, told Express.