Karnataka - Bangalore   

Traffic still a bugbear for old Airport Road users

Bangalore: It seems that life on what is now known as old Airport Road has not changed much after the HAL Airport closure in terms of traffic and trade. Residents and shopkeepers have the same grievances as they did before Bangalore International Airport came up. Shitendra Bhattacharya, who stays in a bylane at the old Airport Road-Ring Road junction, says that even though he sees a considerable reduction in the volume of traffic at the junction, problems still remain the same.

“There is still traffic congestion, especially at peak hours. The issue of being able to manage traffic efficiently still remains,” says Mr. Bhattacharya. According to him, the fact that people think that there may be no traffic on the old Airport Road, just causes more people to use the road and add to the congestion.

Other residents are of the opinion that the shifting of the airport was only a fraction of the problem and that the main cause of congestion is the volume of traffic going towards International Technology Park in Whitefield and various other software offices in Marathahalli.

Ananth Krishnan, who lives at the old Airport Road-HAL junction, has mixed feelings. “That one junction has become much better. I save about 15 minutes every day. But nothing concrete has changed about the traffic near Manipal Hospital,” he says.

Life has not changed much for shopkeepers either. K. Murthy, owner of a tea and cigarette shop at the old Airport Road-HAL junction, says that in the frenzy between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., when HAL buses bring back children from school, the noise is unbearable.

Praveen Sood, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic and Security, confirms the fact that there has been barely any difference in the volume of traffic. “For the first 15 days after the closure of HAL Airport, the traffic was manageable. But once traffic reduces on one road, traffic from other roads is diverted to that road,” he says.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

‘Theyyam and Bhuta rituals are two sides of a coin’
Welcomed
Don’t feed them, just let them be
Seven killed in road accident
A launch that sizzled
Ray of hope for poor young diabetics
Making forests out of schools
Rainwater harvesting catching on in city
Traffic still a bugbear for old Airport Road users
Police station site now host to peepal tree
Murdered
Seven killed, five injured as MUV collides with bus
Traffic diversion
Coming together to oppose the ban on live bands
Appeal to Chidambaram
‘Dowry’ pressure claims lives of mother, infant
Man held on cheating charge CRIME NOTES
‘Connoisseurs should help in the promotion of arts’
They are good friends in need
Urbanisation not caused by migration alone, says Thakur
In Bangalore Today

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu