[audioholic]

The new traffic diversion for traffic from Old airport road towards marathahalli has made things worse at ISRO junction. Today by some stroke of bad luck I ended up taking the ORR to work and was gifted with a 1hr 10 min drive to office with crawling traffic even at 7AM. Usually I take just 40 mins and I dont face any crawling traffic. God save Bengaluru from these morons at BWSSB, BBMP and whatever.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by mohammedismail

DAMN !! Wonder what happened, I wish I had left at 4PM today from office :(

It was a Bus(iness) as usual!!!

A BMTC bus that suffered a breakdown on the down ramp of Kasturinagar flyover of ORR ensured traffic gridlocks spread its tentacles to most of adjacent areas at peak hours for more than 3 hours!!

Bus breaks down, cripples traffic for three hours

Bengaluru: Traffic was paralysed on most roads in Bengaluru East area after a BMTC bus developed a technical snag and blocked the road. Slow movement, jams and congestion lasted for about three hours due to the incident.

Chaos prevailed on Old Madras Road, Outer Ring Road, K R Puram, Mahadevapura, Marathalli, Whitefield, M M Temple and Swamy Vivekananda Road.

Blocked
Besides main roads, all service roads in Benniganahalli, Indiranagar, Baiyappanahalli, Halasuru, Bagamane tech park, Suranjan Das Road and Hoodi were completely blocked.

The bus developed a technical snag near the down ramp in Kasturinagar and blocked the road around 6.15 pm. Within minutes, the vehicles piled up in a long queue.

"We employed a crane to clear the bus. It took much time since space had to be created for parking the bus. The bus was cleared around 8 pm. Traffic was completely paralysed on the road between 6.30 pm and 8 pm," said the police.

The incident, which occurred during peak hours, had a cascading effect on all surrounding roads.

"It took more than two hours to travel the stretch between K R Puram and Marathalli. All service roads were jam-packed," a commuter told DH.

The police deployed additional men to regulate traffic. The police flashed alerts on their social media platforms and FM radio stations, said the police.

Source: Deccan Herald, Bangalore Edition Page No 3

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Folks

A major traffic alert

Vehicles now cannot enter ITPL back gate 3 while coming from Vydehi.

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

This idiotic traffic flow system has caused a huge jam from Big bazaar all the way till hope farm. I hope this experiment is taken out at the earliest.

Originally Posted by procrj

Found this on FB

Originally Posted by poloman

BTP should understand such short sighted steps are not going to work.

Luckily this was rolled back yesterday itself. Things were back to 'Normal' by evening.

[itwasntme]

0900: Avoid Hebbal inbound to city!

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

0900: Avoid Hebbal inbound to city!

I often notice out of curiosity (after reaching my workplace at 0730 ) that the Jam around this time extends all the way beyond Kodigehalli Junction. Its the same case even in the evenings too.

Just yesterday, I was checking Google's calculation on the time taken from the last point of this jam (above Kodigehalli Junction on KIAL flyover) till the end of Hebbal Flyover (almost Baptist Hospital) and for a 2.4 Kms stretch, it showed 27 Minutes and incidentally walking time was 29 Minutes .

However, Gmaps was also smart to save some time (say 8-9 minutes) by not taking the flyover and instead joining the flyover from the entry from ORR Side so that you are on the Hebbal flyover halfway - Something that cops direct BMTC and Private buses to do so even today.

That Hebbal flyover has now become a super major bottleneck.

Imagine the experiences of the first time visitors/delegates - A fast run on KIAL expressway for 20 minutes and crawl after this for the next 1 hour to reach the center of the city.

The only stretch is considerably fast after descending the flyover is the Baptist Hospital to Gangehahalli Junction post which it is B2B all the way.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

That Hebbal flyover has now become a super major bottleneck.

I think this is the case irrespective of weekday/weekend. Most times when I end up going to the airport, I avoid Hebbal and take the Yelahanka - Vidyaranyapura - HMT/Mathikere road depending on which part of north/central bangalore I need to get to.

Edit: Also observed that yesterday there was some digging/pipe laying going on just before the UP ramp of the Hebbal flyover when comming from Nagavara ORR, which again resulted in a small jam. Not sure if this has been cleared now but I was travelling off peak at 3.30 PM and hence was not impacted much but can imagine what this can do during peak time.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by procrj

I think this is the case irrespective of weekday/weekend.

True that, Weekends included. Absolutely no doubts. In fact, on weekends there is no pattern and I see jams almost all day till late evenings.

I am now totally avoiding Hebbal in both directions.

Most times when I end up going to the airport, I avoid Hebbal and take the Yelahanka - Vidyaranyapura - HMT/Mathikere road depending on which part of north/central bangalore I need to get to.

Yes, this is one road that works faster all the times. Ever evaluated Yelahanka - Mother Diary - MS Palya - Air Force Station - Gangamma Circle - Jalahalli option?

Not that this will be a huge time saver but a better alternative instead of entering Vidyaranyapura. Of course, Gangamma Circle Junction to Jalahalli Post office at peak hour also may not be the fastest.

In General, the route you take at least offers "movement" in 3rd and 4th gears while Hebbal makes you crawl in 1st and 2nd for over 30 minutes!!

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

It was a Bus(iness) as usual!!!

Source: Deccan Herald, Bangalore Edition Page No 3

Just pathetic. Absolutely no value for others on the road. These buses keep breaking down with alarming regularity. I wish there was a left lane only marked for buses. No moving bus can overtake anyone else - everyone would automatically toe the line. And in case of such a breakdown, people would be better prepared.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by pratyush6

I wish there was a left lane only marked for buses. No moving bus can overtake anyone else - everyone would automatically toe the line.

Dedicated Bus lanes were implemented in the past and failed miserably in Bangalore. Quite a few roads and one of them was Bellary road itself.

Then the dedicated Auto lanes - Another half baked attempt to streamline traffic when you know roads are not of the same width everywhere and also the fact that imparting discipline among these Auto drivers and BMTC drivers is a dream today - No matter how many ever classroom training you give them and publicize on Social Media.

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Dedicated Bus lanes were implemented in the past and failed miserably in Bangalore. Quite a few roads and one of them was Bellary road itself.

Then the dedicated Auto lanes - Another half baked attempt to streamline traffic when you know roads are not of the same width everywhere and also the fact that imparting discipline among these Auto drivers and BMTC drivers is a dream today - No matter how many ever classroom training you give them and publicize on Social Media.

That's another problem though. Better Policing, Smarter Cameras and prominently displayed number plates can solve it. I always say to create long term solutions.
Traffic isn't going to get any better - Buses aren't going to get any better, people aren't going to get any better. All we can do is hit them where it hurts the most - Money. Fine heavily, cancel licenses, make people fear then if they drive like a maniac - they simply won't be given a license. Something like a points system. Pretty sure we have very smart people, why not alleviate this mess.

Ahh... there you go, I am having a pipe dream again

[BeantownThinker]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Dedicated Bus lanes were implemented in the past...

Then the dedicated Auto lanes...

The way Bangalore has been and has expanded there just isn't any space on the roads to have dedicated lanes. If the planning is not correct at the beginning then it is all downhill from there.

Case in point in the Jayanagar area. Now, this are has plenty of traffic but jams are few and far apart because you always have an alternate parallel road that you can take. In most of the newer areas it is this lack of alternate roads that is causing the jam

Originally Posted by pratyush6

Traffic isn't going to get any better - Buses aren't going to get any better, people aren't going to get any better. All we can do is hit them where it hurts the most - Money. Fine heavily, cancel licenses, make people fear then if they drive like a maniac - they simply won't be given a license. Something like a points system. Pretty sure we have very smart people, why not alleviate this mess.

I travel on the Hebbal flyover everyday and let me tell you people driving like maniacs are not the issue. The real issue is people not having any lane sense. More often than not you will have the slowest of vehicles driving in the fast lane thereby not allowing the faster moving vehicles to travel in a straight line. People end up weaving in and around these slower vehicles.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

The way Bangalore has been and has expanded there just isn't any space on the roads to have dedicated lanes. If the planning is not correct at the beginning then it is all downhill from there.
.

Have no doubts there but the fact is these Auto lanes were installed twice and scrapped twice, in gap of 5 years when growth had not stagnated in any manner and vehicles were getting added day after another.

Did I forget to say - This was on the same road, same stretch, same width of the road?

May be they were thinking that Auto's width has reduced due to advancement in technologies.

[Viv3k]

Originally Posted by procrj

I think this is the case irrespective of weekday/weekend. Most times when I end up going to the airport, I avoid Hebbal and take the Yelahanka - Vidyaranyapura - HMT/Mathikere road depending on which part of north/central bangalore I need to get to.

Edit: Also observed that yesterday there was some digging/pipe laying going on just before the UP ramp of the Hebbal flyover when comming from Nagavara ORR, which again resulted in a small jam. Not sure if this has been cleared now but I was travelling off peak at 3.30 PM and hence was not impacted much but can imagine what this can do during peak time.

In fact, this route you mentioned should be portrayed as an alternate to reach city quickly. Because of Hebbal and numerous cases of missed flights, many of my friends and relatives come over to my place the previous day of their flight.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Viv3k

In fact, this route you mentioned should be portrayed as an alternate to reach city quickly. Because of Hebbal and numerous cases of missed flights, many of my friends and relatives come over to my place the previous day of their flight.

Depends really on which part of the city you are heading from or which part of the city you are heading into.

The above route is not applicable to all. Moreover, cabbies are aware of a majority of these alternate routes that I recall my friend from Mumbai who was made to reach Airport just in time due to an alternate route.

With regular blocks and protests and now Hebbal, alternate routes are always there and well taken.

[sachinpk]

Today was a day of rude surprise :(. These days I manage to cover my office commute distance (of 32 kms) in around 1 hr 10-15 mins. Today the worthies have once again switched on the signal at Dommasandra (on the Sarjapur Rd.). Vehicle piled up well beyond the Sri Krishna temple towards Doddakannelli side. The signal timings seems to be miscalculated. It took around 15 mins for me to hit Varthur Rd. And the Varthur village was the next trouble spot. Another 20 mins out there. The traffic police men were not present at both the places. But after I reached Varthur, found two of them charging in their white motor cycles. In overall it was a 120 mins journey to cover a distance of 32kms.