Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has chaired a meeting with the BMRDA officials and committee members to find a solution for Bengaluru’s traffic issues. They have decided to connect the ends of Bengaluru with underpasses in the city.
During the meeting, the officials discussed improving connectivity to Bengaluru’s outer parts by constructing tunnels. According to media reports, the officials planned to allocate ₹22,000 crore for the initial phase of the 50 km tunnel construction project.
After the completion of this project, Bengaluru will be connected end to end with metro, flyovers, and underpasses. The officials also sought suggestions from the people via the website ‘Brand Bengaluru’.
A Public-private partner (PPP) joint partnership or Built Operate Transfer (BOT) has approved the tunnel project which will also consist of tolls to collect funds for the contractors, the report said.
Currently, 50 km of tunnel road is proposed in the first phase in Bengaluru, however, the city needs 100 km of tunnel roads to overcome the traffic issues.
On multiple occasions, social media has been flooded with posts discussing the issue of traffic in Bengaluru. Specifically, for individuals residing in the Electronic City, heavy traffic has become a major concern.
Earlier, Zolo co-founder Nikhil Sikri highlighted the challenges associated with Bengaluru traffic. He pointed out an issue with Google Maps, where the estimated time of arrival remained constant for every five-minute interval, resulting in a cumulative increase in travel time by several minutes.
He penned a humorous post about Bengaluru traffic, it resonated with the online community, gaining widespread agreement.
Bengaluru’s notorious traffic has made it the second slowest place to drive through in the world in 2022, according to the latest report by a specialist in geolocation technologies, TomTom.
As per the report, it would take anyone on an average of half an hour to cover 10 km. To be accurate, the report stated that travellers were able to cover 10 km of distance in Bengaluru in an average time of 29 minutes and 9 seconds.
However, travelling is painfully slower than Bengaluru in New York where it took 36 minutes and 20 seconds to travel 10 km in the centre of the city in 2022.
