To ease vehicular movement from the Trumpet Interchange to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), the operator of the airport, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), has taken up a three-part project that will see the existing road widened. Two lanes will be added to the existing two-lane interchange, along with the construction of a bridge on NH44.
At the same time, BIAL will be widening the 1.4 km main access road from Trumpet Interchange to the airport to accommodate 10 lanes. It will be increased from 2+2 lanes to 5 lanes on either side.
Along with widening of the existing road, a new flyover will be built at the first junction on the road. The widening project is expected to be completed by January 2020.
BIAL MD and CEO Hari Marar said that to carry out widening of the existing road, traffic will be re-routed through a secondary access road. The four-lane secondary access road has a length of 3 km and will act as an alternative road to the terminal. It will be opened for traffic by March 2019.
The main access road will be built 20 feet below the surface level. Measures have been taken to translocate the trees on either side of the existing main access road. “Not a single tree will suffer from the widening project. Some of them will be relocated to the secondary main access to road. A majority will be shifted to the nursery, which is spread over 35 acres,” Mr. Marar said.
On the controversial eastern tunnel project, which is expected to lessen the burden on Ballari Road (NH 44) and help people coming from the eastern parts of Bengaluru like Whitefield, Mr. Marar said that out of the 2.5-km tunnel network, 450 metres of the tunnel will be built. The rest of the project will be taken up after getting approval from the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).
Second runway
The second runway of Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) will be operational from October 1 this year. The south parallel runway, with a length of 4,000 metres, is a CAT III B runway which helps operations of flights when there is poor visibility in winter.
Every year, hundreds of flights get disrupted at KIA causing a great amount of inconvenience to passengers. On Thursday, 48 flight departures and 10 arrivals were delayed by poor visibility. In addition, three flights were diverted to other airports.
BIAL MD and CEO Hari Marar said that flight delays due to fog will not be a problem once the new runway becomes operational.
The new runway will also have dual parallel and cross-field taxi ways. Once it is operational, the BIAL will upgrade the existing runway, which has been operational for over 10 years.
BIAL to foot Metro bill?
BIAL has agreed to bear the cost of constructing two metro stations on the KIA campus. However, BMRCL expects BIAL to bear the cost of the entire length of the line in the campus to the tune of ₹1,000 crore, said Mr. Marar. He maintained that the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) will take a final call on the issue.
BIAL has been asking for a suburban rail line from Yeshwantpur to KIA for the last five years. It is ready to build a station and operate a free shuttle service. “However, the rail project is facing certain technical issues,” Mr. Marar said.