One of the busiest roads in Bangalore, Avenue Road is not only famous for stationery items, artificial jewellery and sarees, but also for its slow moving traffic, congestion and parking problems.
Contrary to what the name suggests, Avenue Road is completely devoid of green cover or Avenue trees. Apart from this, visitors often complain about parking problems on this road. When City Express visited the road, shopkeepers and the pedestrians vented their anger on the problems they face on a daily basis.
Srikanth S K, a regular visitor to the many bookstores here said, “After this road was made one way, parking of vehicles was prohibited. We had to park our vehicles in the bylanes. Heaps of garbage is dumped at every nook and corner, making it difficult for first-time-visitors to identify the parking area.”
Footpath and the parking areas in the lanes are occupied by vendors, making it difficult for any kind of vehicular movement. Many also complained about frequent traffic jams especially during the peak hours. Elaborating on the problems, he faced recently, Chandrashekhar M, a resident of Nagarbhavi, said, “During the recent bus strike, there was massive congestion in many parts of the city. Since K G Road and Hudson Road were flooded with vehicles. I was left with no option but take a deviation to Avenue Road to reach my destination. But alas ! I was caught in traffic for more than two hours. It is difficult to drive a four-wheeler on this road. One needs to be careful about their vehicles as they might get damaged.”
On this 30 feet road, hawkers and footpath vendors are considered as ‘speed breakers’ by many as they neither allow free flow of traffic nor free movement for pedestrians. The commotion is almost unimaginable during the peak hours,opines the agitated public. Sources from the Traffic Department said that the vendors and the hawkers who have encroached on the parking space are being vacated.
The source also said, “We have requested the BBMP authorities to clear the garbage and are receiving good co-operation from them.”