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Marathahalli Bridge close to completion - finally

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Written By silkboard - 10 January, 2008

Traffic Bangalore Whitefield Suburbs Marathahalli Road Works Citizen Reports

I still remember the sign board BDA had put up onsite when construction began on Marathahhali bridge (here). Start 30-4-2006, finish 30-7-2006. Were they kidding - 3 months, thats it? Anyway. dates moved, fast forward to January 2008, and the word going around is that we may get the full six lane bridge done in a few weeks.

Dont think your ride to and back from Whitefield will get a lot smoother though. Main reason - the chaotic Marathahalli bus stand area. Instead of waiting before the bridge, you would be stuck waiting on the bridge now. that is because 1) six lanes on the bridge would merge into four, and 2) right when that merge happens, you would invariably have a BMTC bus picking up passengers.

But, there seems to be a plan for managing traffic coming out of those apartment complexes. As you can sort of see in the pictures, there is a road running parallel to the rail track that goes under the new bridge. From this road, you have two service roads (one on either side of the elevated six lane road) to drive east and come to the foot of the bridge. So, they could make the apartment traffic take U-turns under the bridge so that no one cuts across the Airport-Varthur road traffic. Lets see. We know dividers can be moved as well as breached by public will :)

COMMENTS

Any updates

hmajay - 28 February, 2008 - 00:52

Any latest updates on Marthalli Bridge?

Pics are a bit old

silkboard - 12 January, 2008 - 17:29

Forgot to mention, I took these pictures in mid-Dec 07. They have since started on the 'real' bridge (over the train tracks), work seems to be moving fast. As per a reliable 'source', we should have it ready in a couple of weeks.

traffic plan

tsubba - 11 January, 2008 - 01:28

awesome work! didnt get the traffic plan though. can you elaborate on that?

U-turn under the bridge

silkboard - 11 January, 2008 - 04:08

There are two roads running parallel (on each side, north and south) to the bridge that go all the way to the new road they have done under the bridge. So I am thinking that the plan would be to make apartment traffic go do a U-turn under the bridge, then come back to the foot of the six lane bridge. That way they don't have cut across traffic when leaving or entering the apt complex. I think ditto for the traffic that comes from the village down the railway track. Earlier, those vehicles use to join the airport-Varthur road traffic right on top of the bridge. It was like a traffic signal literally on top of the bridge. Now no more. The key to managing traffic on key radial roads in Bangalore is to make more and more people take U-turns. But the temptation usually is to have frequent cuts in the median, because people don't like to travel the extra distance for U-turns. In the worst case, you see people going the wrong direction, just to avoid a U-turn.

bridge status..

blrsri - 11 January, 2008 - 05:01

from the image the dark patch I think is the newly asphalted road..but there is a gap where the railway track is. Has the actual bridge construction completed? or has it started at all? I am not sure about the few weeks needed..it could be months aferall!

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