Expressway: IISc expert fears traffic will only worsen, says address root cause

BENGALURU: With the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway officially thrown open by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, mobility experts said that this is likely to worsen the traffic situation in the twin cities.

Mobility expert from the IISc Dr Ashish Verma said there is already congestion at the entry and exit points of the expressway. Instead of addressing the root cause of traffic, which is the rise in personal vehicles, the expressway encourages it. Dr Verma warned that the time gained will be lost in congestion, and with time, it will only get worse. Verma suggested that half of the road on both sides has a ‘Bus Rapid Transit System’ (BRTS). 

The congestion created by vehicles while entering Mysuru city at Manipal Hospital junction is so high that the demand for building a flyover has gained traction, Dr Verma said. The expressway pushes the traffic to the entry and exit points. 

To solve that, another flyover will be built taking the congestion right into the city. After traffic shifts from the flyover to a different point, another flyover will be proposed and built, Dr Verma said, and asked how many flyovers the government intends to built to resolve the traffic problem.

“There is no doubt that the expressway will reduce travel time. However, it cannot be a long-term solution. For instance, the Hebbal flyover was not a chock-a-block before the construction of the airport flyover. But now, with the rate of vehicle flow, it has become one,” he said.  

While purchasing land, the government could have stretched a little bit more and made allocation for a High-Speed Rail (HSR) and run high-end trains like Vande Bharat, Dr Verma explained. As a long-term solution, ideally, on each side of the road there should be a BRTS, he said.