3 roads in Cubbon Park to be permanently closed to traffic

BENGALURU: One the city’s major lung spaces, Cubbon Park, will see lesser traffic in the coming weeks with the government all set to ban movement of vehicles on three roads inside the park all through the week. As per the plan, the road from Hudson Circle to Central Library, from Queen’s statue to Jawahar Bal Bhavan till Venkatappa Art Gallery, and King’s Road from Queen’s statue to Cubbon Park Metro (near Press Club) will be closed for motorists.

The proposal was made by the Horticulture Department recently to make Cubbon Park friendly for visitors and tourists. Officials of the Horticulture and Tourism departments, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and Bengaluru City Traffic Police held a meeting in Vidhana Soudha on Thursday evening where the proposal was accepted. The order restricting traffic is likely to be issued in the second or third week of March.

The ban on movement of vehicles on all roads inside Cubbon Park will also be extended to the fourth Saturday of every month and all national holidays, said a senior official of the Horticulture department. Presently, the roads are closed on Sundays and second Saturdays. The Central Library Road is currently used to park vehicles. Once the work on the multi-level parking facility is completed, even parking will be banned on that road. 

When contacted, Maheshwar Rao M, Secretary to Horticulture and Sericulture Department, said, “We have made a request for banning traffic on quite a few roads. The additional chief secretary (home) will have further meetings on it.” 

‘Unsure of parking space for visitors at cubbon park’

Motorists commuting through Central Library Road towards MS Building, High Court have to go through Mysore Bank Circle, City Civil Court, KR Circle and then reach Dr Ambedkar Veedhi. Those heading towards Press Club and High Court will have to take Kasturba Road, Queen’s Road and take left turn near Cubbon Park Metro station. Similarly, motorists heading towards KR Circle from Queen’s Statue have to take left on Kasturba Road or right turn on Queen’s Road.

According to sources, the traffic police did not raise any objection to the ban of vehicle movement on the three roads in Cubbon Park. In fact, they said they are ready for a complete ban of vehicle movement in Cubbon Park, like Lalbagh, at Thursday’s meeting.When contacted, Additional Commissioner of Police (traffic) P Harishekaran said the traffic police do not have any issues with the ban.

However, a senior traffic police officer said the main issue after banning movement of vehicles on these roads is providing parking to visitors. “We are yet to figure out where parking to be provided. But if vehicles are found in the no-parking zones, the vehicles will be towed away,” he said.

According to sources, the proposal was made after many visitors and tourists approached the Horticulture department seeking pedestrian safety. An officer said that with the Bal Bhavan, the number of children visiting Cubbon Park is increasing and there had been a couple of minor accidents. “So we have taken this decision,” he said.