Patience has left Bangalore motorists’ ages ago. Thanks to the people who are adding over a thousand vehicles a day. If a snail were to race with the bumper to bumper traffic, probably it would emerge as a winner on these chaotic roads. Motorists clearly display their anger, frustration by over-speeding when ever they find a clear patch of road. They no longer care for the signals to turn green, another reason adds to the impatience too. The waiting period at each junction is sometimes more than three minutes. The list goes on. So, what could be a probable solution which could partly resolve the crisis at hand?
High Speed corridors in the city! Yes. They are the need of the hour. Major arterial roads which are longer than a kilometer in length could be converted into high speed corridors. Though they are short in length, they would considerably ease the situation of the traffic at these places and help in quick passage of vehicles. This would in turn reduce the travelling time and augment the overall average speed of the commuters. Roads such as the West of Chord Road, Inner core ring road, South End road and alike should be re-designed so as to build these high speed corridors removing any hindrances or bottlenecks which could possibly obstruct the free flow. Even if an average speed of 60 kms/hr is achieved it would reduce the travel time extensively. It would indeed be a boon to the commuters who are tired of driving across these congested city roads.
The traffic signals which bring the traffic to a standstill should be removed by building many more underpasses and flyovers on these corridors. Parking or stopping vehicles on these corridors should be a strict no. A parking bay for the buses at the bus stop would take them away from the roads while they halt for a brief period which would not affect the main stream.
The unessential burning of fuel would be considerately minimized which would mean less emission of toxic gas and expenditure on fuel. The chronic headaches of cops of manning the junctions would come down to a drastic extent. This way they could make better use of them in other roles such as monitoring the traffic flow and as troubleshooters in case of jams if any caused.
Wouldn’t it amount to a surge in accidents? A lane system, regulation of traffic by way of utilizing cameras through out these stretches would make the road users cautious about over speeding. Strict vigilance by the cops using CCTvs, speed gun cameras could help nab the speed mongers. A manifold increase to the meager penalties charged now by way of amending the Motor Vehicles Act will surely curtail the speedsters which would burn their pockets otherwise.
What about the pedestrians? Close to a 100 Sub-ways are being planned by the BBMP to be built at major junctions in order to facilitate the safe crossing of the roads for the pedestrians. An inter link of these sub-ways at the junctions would reduce the risk taken by the pedestrians while crossing the roads. Alternatively, many sky walks are also planned at significant junctions. Barricading the high-speed corridors would force them to take these Sky-walks or sub-ways to cross the roads which would be safer for them and the road users as well.
