Drive on a highway in the sky
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In six months’ time, you can experience the joy of driving on an elevated highway in Bangalore.
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— PHOTO: K. GOPINATHAN
CORRIDORS FOR TRAFFIC EASE: There are elevated roads in other parts of the country but this is the first time a major National Highway is being taken on an elevated platform.
Road users of Bangalore have seen it all — grade separators, underpasses, flyovers, skywalks. It is now time to experience the joy of driving on an elevated highway, the first of its kind in the country. Thanks to the vision of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the 10-km elevated highway on National Highway 7 between Silk Board and Electronic City will be ready by January for public use.
A consortium of three companies — Soma Enterprises, Nagarjuna Construction Company, and Maytas (a Satyam Computers group company) — had launched a joint venture company in 2005 to undertake this project, which will have 14-lane traffic between the two points for 10 km on a build, operate and transfer basis. Initially, the cost was put at Rs. 450 crore, but after three years, it has escalated to Rs. 776 crore at current prices. By the time the project is completed, the cost is estimated to reach Rs. 800 crore, according to the consortium managers.
The consortium will get returns through direct toll collection for 15 years at current prices. A toll plaza will come up near the Silk Board.
There are elevated roads in other parts of the country but it is for the first time that a major National Highway is being taken on an elevated platform. According to sources in the NHAI, when completed, NH 7 will have four lanes on the elevated platform, a six-lane carriageway on the ground level and two-lane service roads on each side, making it one of the largest solution-providers for traffic in the country.
According to traffic census, the ground-level traffic has already touched 1,12,000 passenger car units in 12 hours in this stretch and when the elevated highway is operational, traffic on the ground-level carriageway will be cut by 40 per cent and the travel time from Silk Board to Electronics City will be reduced to 10 minutes from the present 30 to 45 minutes.
The 10-lane carriageway will continue further up to the border of Karnataka (Hosur) from Electronics City. The average speed in this stretch is presently 10-20 kilometres per hour. When completed, it will give a healthy 45 kilometres per hour during peak traffic load.
Since this stretch of highway also has a heavy movement of pedestrians from one side to the other side of the carriageway, the NHAI has planned 10 pedestrian under-crosses between Silk Board and Electronics City.
Sources told The Hindu that the “push-box technology” used for under-crosses has been developed by the NHAI for addressing pedestrian movement. These could be built into the ground under the road while the traffic continues to ply unhindered.
The new highway will have the Highway Traffic Management System (HTMS) which allows the central console to monitor the traffic flow and rush relief in case of accidents. “In terms of concept, construction and utility, the elevated National Highway is an important infrastructure,” says Union Minister of State for Highways K.H. Muniyappa.
“The Ministry of Surface Transport and Highways was also studying the design of the elevated National Highway in Bangalore for possible implementation in other places in the country,” he added.
M. RAGHURAM
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