Budget revives elevated corridor project for Bengaluru

The biggest budgetary announcement for Bengaluru has already run into a controversy. The Rs 15,825-crore elevated corridor project, which didn’t get any mention in former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s last two budgets, is back on the government’s priorities, with HD Kumaraswamy presenting it as a “solution to the city’s infamous traffic”.

“In spite of so many achievements, Bengaluru transport system has not grown on a par with its development. We propose to construct six interconnected elevated corridors in the next four years under hybrid annuity. This is a good contribution to the city’s transportation system as it is formulated keeping in mind Bengaluru Metro,” Kumaraswamy said, promising to earmark Rs 1,000 crore in the current year.

Speaking to reporters later, the chief minister said the 95-km elevated corridor is split into five phases for speedier implementation.


“We will take up all these projects simultaneously. Along with the elevated corridor, we are seriously looking at fast-tracking the 65-km Peripheral Ring Road project, which has been delayed by ten years,” he added.

Rs 166 CRORE PER KILOMETRE

The elevated corridor comes at a cost of Rs 166 crore per kilometre, which is almost the cost of building an elevated metro project. Some of the stretches where the project is proposed are: Hebbal-Silk Board junction (23.03-km), KR Puram-Goraguntepalya (36.70-km) and Varthur Kodi-Richmond Circle(17.20-km).

Reaction to the proposal has been mixed RK Mishra, founder of the Centre for Smart Cities, a non-profit, said the elevated corridor is important to decongest Bengaluru. “The vehicle population is growing but the road capacity continues to be the same. Even if we add more buses and expand metro corridors, the traffic congestion will not reduce. Those who oppose the project should first experience traffic in junctions such as in Silk Board, KR Puram and Hebbal or at least speak to those who commute on these high-traffic areas daily,” he said.

Elevated corridors are built in several Asian cities including Beijing, Bangkok, Tokyo and Hong Kong, Mishra pointed out. “Bengaluru cannot be compared with European countries which are not as populated as Indian cities. All the major Asian cities have long flyovers that run through the city,” he said. “Currently, it takes not less than two hours to commute between KR Puram and Yeshwantpur or Hebbal and Silk Board. Once the elevated corridors are ready, the travel time will come down to 15 minutes,” he said.

Ashish Verma, associate professor (transportation engineering) at Indian Institute of Science, believes the project is not sustainable and the Rs 15,825-crore investment would turn useless within six months. “I agree that the vehicle moves faster on the elevated roads. The time saved on flyovers will be lost when the vehicles come down,” he said.

Verma gave examples of what the commuters go through after exiting flyovers on the airport road, Yeshwantpur and Electronic City. “The travel time saved on flyovers is lost in junctions such as Hebbal or Silk Board. Our research shows flyovers are not long-term solutions. The government should instead focus on providing robust public transport such as expansion of metro projects, priority lanes for shared mobility and suburban rail system. The elevated projects will only put the city on the ventilator,” he added.