Citizens’ demand for pedestrian safety on the busy Outer Ring Road (ORR), following the death of a security guard on November 29, appears to have borne fruit. A private company in Bellandur has come forward to invest and install a skywalk at the Salarpuria Soft Zone junction as part of its CSR initiative.
Residents of Bellandur had formed a human chain at the junction on December 6 to highlight their demand for a skywalk after 19-year-old Sanjay Aditya Giri, a security guard, was hit by a car, only the latest in a series of accidents on ORR in which pedestrians lost their lives. They were angry as civic agencies had failed to install a skywalk despite it being an election promise.
They want the skywalk to be named ‘Sanjay Memorial Skywalk’ in memory of the security guard.
On Saturday, P.C. Mohan, MP, Bengaluru Central, visited the spot with BBMP and BMRCL officials seeking an NOC from the two agencies to build a skywalk at the junction. “The Namma Metro line will cross the junction as well. However, I have convinced BMRCL officials that a skywalk cannot be put on hold just because a Metro line would come along the road in future. These skywalks are dismountable. When Metro work begins, we can look at shifting it,” he said adding the agencies had more or less cleared the project. “We will ensure a skywalk would come at the junction in the next few months,” he said.
Residents, in a statement, hoped that the skywalk would be completed in a month's time. “In the immediate one-kilometre vicinity of the proposed skywalk are bus stops, two technology parks, schools and daily pedestrian traffic of 30,000 at peak hours with no safe way to cross this pedestrian-kill-zone,” the statement said.
Another quick fix flyover on ORR
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has given in-principle approval for another quick-fix flyover on ORR, essentially to help ease traffic congestion around Manyata Tech Park. The project will have up and down ramps into Manyata Tech Park to help employees and residents there. It will be funded by the Embassy Group, which will invest nearly ₹130 crore for the project.
The proposal includes a 3-lane one-way flyover connecting Nagawara flyover and Veerannapalya flyover with 2-lane exclusive exit and entry ramps into Manyata Tech Park. The BBMP expects the project to be completed within 18 months.
However, the project has come under criticism for letting a single company dictate the design on a crucial road like ORR.
