BANGALORE: The city will be getting a concrete ‘white top’ road from Mahatma Gandhi statue to Benigenahalli this year. Developed for the first time under the Tender SURE (Specifications for Urban Road Execution), the road will be a mix of concrete and blacktop and will seek to provide international quality amenities like a standard set of road signs and footpaths along with other facilities like ducts for public utilities which would ensure that no constant redigging needs to be done.
The road will follow the metro rail line and the costs will be shared equally between the BBMP and BMRCL. “We will be building concrete roads wherever the metro is currently functioning and these roads will have ducts for easy access to public utilities along with other pedestrian friendly measures,” said MK Shankarlinge Gowda, Commissioner of BBMP. The work would begin once the shifting of utilities like electrical boxes and other lines takes place. The entire project is estimated to cost `50 crore according to Gowda.
“It is part of a bigger plan to ensure there is a certain standard brought about for all roads in the city in the coming years. We will be working on 20 roads a year. This year we plan on covering all major roads in the Central Business District (CBD)” said RK Mishra, Member ABIDe and BBMP’s Technical Advisory Committee. He added that the roads under the current Reach 1 of Metro (from Kumble Circle to Byappannahalli) would be covered this year.
The government has approved the report submitted by the Technical Advisory Committee and has made it mandatory for the Tender SURE specifications to be adopted for this stretch.
Explaining the reason behind cost sharing by the BBMP and BMRCL Mishra added, “The metro travellers will naturally be using BBMP property, BMRCL will also be making a profit from the Metro and hence it is only fair that they contribute.”
Sources said the BMRCL has already submitted its share of `25 crore for the project to BBMP. The new roads will focus on pedestrian movement and will aim to make their life much easier while on roads.
“We will start from a logical point like Benigenahalli from where most people who use metro come from. The aim is to provide them a safe place to walk to the metro and back,” Mishra said. A concrete road has a lifetime of 30 years.