Yesterday, Additional Commissioner of Traffic P Harishekaran visited Silk Board and the surrounding areas of Hosur Road, Madiwala, Bommanahalli and Mangammanapalya. Bommanahalli MLA Satish Reddy apprised the top cop about the traffic situation on Begur Road, Bommanahalli Main Road and Silk Board junction.
A number of measures were discussed, including the exploration of any government land available near Silk Board junction that can be used to park the buses and ease the congestion. There is a lorry stand behind the existing service road near Silk Board where the buses are parked. The top cop wanted to check if that is government land, so it can be used to make a bus station out there.
In addition, asphalting interior roads off Hosur Road and Outer Ring Road (ORR) are planned since much of the ORR traffic on Bannerghatta Road was using internal roads to reach their destinations due to the ongoing Metro work near Jayadeva junction. The other ways to expedite the widening of Begur Road was also discussed during the visit. The residents can hope to see better traffic management around the area from Silk Board junction to Jayadeva flyover in the coming days.
In the last 10-12 days, the Madiwala traffic police has been doing a commendable job of easing congestion near Silk Board with a number of junction improvements. By shifting the Madiwala market, much of the road over there is decongested. Some more junction improvements are planned at Total mall side of Madiwala after the intersections of Bommanahalli and Begur Road are fixed.
After the Silk Board measures, the Madiwala cops now say that many of their fixes have met with success. Earlier, you had to wait for four signals before it was your turn to cross the Silk Board junction from HSR Layout. “Today, it’s possible to go past it after the second signal itself,” says a senior traffic cop. And this has been made possible through a number of remedial measures taken by the traffic police outlined below:
1. At Silk Board junctions, the waiting time for pedestrians will be a lot less as they will now be able to cross the road at every signal change unlike earlier. In addition, there is a barricade erected when vehicles use the free left turn at silk board from Bommanahalli. This way, the pedestrians are able to cross the road without much hassle as the traffic will be orderly.
2. The bus stop towards HSR Layout near Silk Board has been moved further away from the junction to avoid people clogging the area.
3. The timers that were under disrepair have been fixed at the junction to further ease movement.