BENGALURU: In a move aimed at reducing traffic congestion and streamlining movement of vehicles on the busy Bengaluru-Mysuru road, the Ramanagaram district police authorities, along with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), have started to remove unscientific speed-breakers, several of which dot the stretch.
Expandable barricades, which can be adjusted according to the density of traffic, will be installed at places where speed-breakers are necessary. This move has been initiated after the Centre, in September last year, approved conversion of the existing four-lane road into a six-lane national highway at a cost of `3,000 crore.
Driving on the road is a nightmare for commuters, especially on weekends. Officials say the stretch witnesses the movement of 70,000-80,000 vehicles per day, which can shoot up to 3 lakh vehicles on weekends. The road is also notorious for accidents.
B Narayan, a city resident who commutes to Mysuru frequently, says driving on the road is extremely strenuous on weekends.
“Considering the fact that there are so many speed-breakers, around 40 just between Maddur and Srirangapatna, there is bumper-to-bumper traffic. The normal drive of around four hours gets extended and may sometimes take up to six hours, and that too for a distance of just 150 km. This is ridiculous. Conversion of the road into a six-lane highway should help, but I am sure that by the time it is completed, it will be ages,” says Narayan.
Ramanagaram Superintendent of Police Chandragupta said traffic is being slowed down to a great extent due to the unscientific speed-breakers.
“There are around 80 speed-breakers that dot the Bengaluru-Mysuru road, which runs through several small towns. The presence of a large number of junctions, with intersections has also caused traffic to slow down. We are removing unscientific speed-breakers and installing expandable barriers. We have already removed 10 such road humps,” he said.
Chandragupta added that the authorities hope to achieve two objectives with the initiative.
“Firstly, we want to ensure that accidents on the road are prevented. At night, when the movement of vehicles is less, people tend to overspeed which, in turn, leads to accidents. Secondly, we hope to streamline the traffic. We believe the installation of barricades will help to a great extent. The width of the barricade can be adjusted according to the density of traffic. The installation of these barricades will be done on a need basis, and we are thinking of installing around 200 of these at various places,” he added.
The barricades will be fixed to the ground in order to ensure that there are no thefts. Maintenance of the barricades will be carried out by the NHAI. Chandragupta said highway patrol personnel will be in charge of adjusting the width of the barricades as they traverse the road periodically.
“These barricades were used by the Mandya Police recently and were found feasible. Initially, there was opposition, but the move is for the good as we will have better and safer roads,” he said.