No country for pedestrians in Bangalore

The 19.5-km ride along the newly opened Bangalore-Nelamangala expressway might be an excitement for motorists, but for those living by the stretch, it’s been an everyday risk. The residents have a tough time trying to cross the road. 

As there is no provision of foot overbridges (FOB) or pedestrian subways, barring one at Arishinakunte, along the expressway, residents have to jump over cement slabs to get to the other side.

“This poses a problem both to pedestrians and motorists,” traffic police said. Motorists find it hard to apply sudden brakes and slow down from a speed of 80 km/hour to avoid hitting pedestrians trying to cross the road, they said.

After the toll plaza at the Widia school junction up to Nelamangala, there are several residential localities like Anchepalya, Madavara, Arishinakunte, Chikkabidarakallu, Adakamaranahalli and Dasanapura.

“The authorities, however, have not built any FOB for us to cross the expressway,” complained Rakesh BH, a resident of Madavara. “At least 10 accidents occurred in the past three days. Thankfully, no lives were lost,” he added.

Dhanalakshmi R, another resident said, “Although there are five underpasses on this 19.5-km stretch, they are not exclusive for pedestrians, as vehicles from service road zoom past all the time.”

Civic and infrastructure expert Dinakar KR said that the authorities should not have opened the expressway without building FOBs or pedestrian subways. “This would simply risk hundreds of lives every day,” he said.

The signal-free expressway includes 4.5 km-long elevated corridor and has six toll plazas installed at Karle Junction, Anchepalya, Madavara, Arishinakunte, RTO check post at Arishinakunte and Nelamangala. The stretch includes five underpasses at Chikkabidarakallu, TCI, Adakamaranahalli, Dasanapura, Vishwa Bharathi Ashram, Sondekoppa Circle and Kunigal junction.

Officials at the National Highway Authorities Limited (NHAI) said plans were afoot to construct FOBs at Widia Junction, Parle G junction, Anchepalya, Madavara, Makli, Devannanapalya and Jakkasandra.

“The FOBs were postponed due to the delay in getting a sanction from the head office in New Delhi. We are constructing the first FOB at Widia Junction and it will be constructed in a month. Similarly, the residents of Madanayakanahalli are demanding an underpass instead of an overbridge. We are already discussing the issue,” the official said.

The NHAI official also stated that they have constructed a 8.5-metre wide road under the flyover and 7.25-metre wide service roads. On the Nelamangala stretch, the authorities have placed four surveillance cameras.

“The cameras will record all vehicular movements.  The officials will visit the spot immediately, in case of any untoward incident,” the official said.