‘Give us a footbridge while widening road’

Residents and commuters around Mission Road have welcomed the road-widening measures being planned by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for the area. This road is vital for the movement of traffic towards Lalbagh and it has been plagued with traffic worries for the past few years.

The junction connecting Devanga Road to Mission Road in particular needs immediate action, “That junction needs to be widened and that would sort out most of the traffic snarls on this road,” said John, a shop owner.

However, institutions on this road have other problems to be tackled before road-widening work begins. A prominent school located on Mission Road with 2,100 students has been facing a host of problems from lack of zebra crossing to killer buses which ply on to sidewalks.

“I can give them land for road widening. But they must take some steps to protect my students who face the risk of getting run over every day while coming to school,” said Jamila Paul, principal of the school. “They have put a speed breaker just after our school gate. This causes jams,” she added.

The school board made several appeals in vain to the BBMP and the police to provide them support during school hours.
Buses speeding to Kalinga Rao Road bus stand pose a threat to students who have to cross the road to reach the school gate. One solution to tackle this could be the construction of a footbridge to ensure them a safe crossing.

“A footbridge or at least a zebra crossing would be of great help. I hope the BBMP considers this seriously,” said the principal.