BENGALURU: After four years of long wait, Kodigehalli underpass was finally open to commuters on Monday. The railway underbridge will mainly help residents of Vidyaranyapura, Sahakarnagar, Kodigehalli, Thindlu and Virupakshapura. It will cut the travel time between Vidyaranyapura main road and Kodigehalli by at least 30 minutes.
“I am now used to taking the long route. But I am happy that the underpass is ready. It will help commuters save a lot of time. However, the road next to the bridge is still narrow and some work at the underpass is pending. I hope it will be completed soon,” said Karthik S, a resident of Virupakshapura.
“Those commuting between Vidyaranyapura main road and Kodigehalli had to earlier wait for hours to cross the road. Traffic tangles were a common sight. This underpass will come as a great relief to them,” said a Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike official.To make commuting easy, the railway crossing gate at Kodigehalli was dismantled four years back. It was decided that an underpass would be constructed, which would help the public. However, the project had turned out to be a nuisance for the local residents.
“Workers of the civic body started digging the roads even before acquiring the land. We had to start taking long detour of over 4 kms to reach places like Hebbal, which was just 100 metres away,” said a resident.
The 700-metre long bridge was first proposed in 2013 by the BBMP under cost sharing basis between the civic body and the railways. The project that was estimated to be completed in two years was, however, delayed due to land acquisition issues and the tender procedures.
Corporator Lakshmi Hari told The New Indian Express, “About Rs 19 crore was spent on the project. There were a lot of hurdles in between, but finally it is open to public for their convenience.”However, when contacted, a senior official from Bangalore Railway Division said that the project was not yet completed. “The civic body is yet to acquire 30 metres of land for the railway underpass. We opened the underbridge to the public following huge demand from the commuters,” the official further added.