HOT TOPICS
SPOTLIGHT AGENCIES
FM Cariappa Road
Written By tsubba - 10 September, 2008
Bangalore Infrastructure Road Works Roads TransportationWG Analysis
Ok, before we make suggestions, we need to be very explicit about what we understand about the road. Since, sri is the local malla complete with a high flung jeTTi and spread out rhetorical stance and all*, we start with what he said about this road. We keep in mind that beyond his generic description, which nevertheless gives us a feel for the road, we need explicit and detailed details. Srivatsa said:
Residency Road is a good candidate. Inspite of being made a one-way, traffic crawls. People jump lights at Cash Pharmacy as though they are colour blind (BMTC buses lead the way). It is a school zone and children need to cross the roads there without risk to life and limb. It is wide enough between Cash Pharmacy and Ashirvadam Circle to allow smooth flow. It then narrows near Imperial and then narrows down all the way till Mayo Hall. Lots of chaos at Mayo Hall due to Metro construction as well.then, blrsri asked a poignant question:
..and why we have a signal on the richmond road flyover? Its because children of the 'cream of our society' need cars/vans waiting for them outside their schools. And these so called institutions which nurture the future generations, encourage violations all around them! [flickr-photo:id=2839449777] This is infornt of Bishop Cottons School..it is a designated 2 wheeler parking area that is totally encroached by long parking school vans and cars! This scenario on the road is repeated further that road infront of another reputed school/college!ok, blrsri's point is important. but getting all these sundry schools to agree to help make parking space for vehicles within their own campuses is going to be a long drawn and complicated process. So for practical purposes let us assume that one lane on this road is going to be dedicated for parking. Our task is to see how to make this one way road work.
COMMENTS
s_yajaman - 10 September, 2008 - 08:31
TS,
Where did that come from? What rhetorical stance? :).
The signal on the flyover is not completely because of the schools but because of our hare-brained approach to traffic planning.
Initially Richmond Road and Residency Road were two ways. Then in about 1999 they started the construction of the flyover. The original design was to have traffic ascend from both Double Road and Mission Road and descend into Res. and Rich. Road. As an aside, it created misery and chaos for the people living and working around richmond circle.
Then in about 2004 or so, they started the various one-ways and they converted Richmond Road and Residency Road to one-ways. What do with the flyover? One option would have been to have traffic from Richmond Road descend into Double Road and traffic from Mission Road descend into Residency Road. That would have probably created a mess at Double Road (near Olympic sports as one more lane of traffic would have been added). So voila - scissor flyover and hence the need for a cop.
Regards,
Srivathsa
blrsri - 10 September, 2008 - 09:00
As I can remember, the biggest reason for the one ways which inturn led to signal on the flyover was the schools..
"Travelling distance may get longer, but the ride will be hassle-free. That’s what the traffic police say, as they gear up for the new one-way regulations on Richmond Road, Residency Road and surrounding areas from Saturday, December 11. These are the areas where a large number of schools and commercial establishments are located." - TOI 10th Dec 2004
Again on sept 01 2008, from TOI:
Principal of Bishop Cotton’s Girls School, Princess Franklyn, said, “We have six BMTC buses plying from various parts of the city and even from far off places to bring children safely to school. Many parents now do not come to drop their children which reduces the chaos in front of the school. Now only a few use private vehicles to commute.” But when asked if the problem of jammed roads has been solved completely, she said there still are hordes of vehicles parked right opposite the main school gate on Richmond road.
“We have not been able to keep a check on the private vans and autorickshaws that come to drop the children. It is mostly due to them that there are traffic jams during peak hours.
This is self admission that the jams are due to the schools! And just 6 busses ? shouldnt every child come by bus? isnt that better than the rickety autos? are the parents scared of BMTC reputation of knocking people down regularly?
However the other big reason was the then old airport..now that it has been shifted. We need to seriously relook at the traffic numbers now..and probably turn back some of the one ways into both ways!
Schools create jams for a limited time
s_yajaman - 10 September, 2008 - 10:26
BlrSri,
Schools create chaos once at 8:00 and once at 4:00. ( I agree with you that more kids should go by bus, etc. But that is a matter of individual choice. Schools need to allow cars inside. I also think that the road is broad enough to allow cars to drop off kids without adding to the congestion). That can't be the sole reason for the one-way rule. Richmond Road has just two schools on it and is still a mess.
Richmond road and Residency Roads are arterial roads and carry most of the traffic from East to West Bangalore (along with MG Road). All buses from Indiranagar and Ulsoor and Marathahalli and KR Puram to Majestic and Market use them.
The two roads also suffer from the common ailment - varying road widths. E.g. there are some 6 waiting lanes (converted to about 10 by waiting traffic) at Cash Pharmacy trying to merge into 4 receiving lanes.
Too many structural and operational issues to cleanly say - Schools.
Srivathsa
blrsri - 11 September, 2008 - 11:56
[flickr-photo:id=2848341730,size=m]
This is on vittal mallya road, infront of Baldwin girls school..the vans are always parked there..
I saw a situation today in the afternoon when there was a person who was getting a ticket for wrong parking from the cops complaining about the vans always parked there..through the day!
also most of the vans look so old that they would have bribed thru the FC process..
narayan82 - 10 September, 2008 - 14:57
Sri, you have a good idea. In fact, when widening roads, we should have islands but dividers for each lane. This way pedestrian gets a island and traffic gets streamlined.
Interestingly. TS, w.r.t drawing, there is a pedestrian bridge about 2 mts away. But Not a soul uses it. Too much effort, easier to skip across the road. What we need is an elevater/escalator for such bridges.
PRAJA.IN COMMENT GUIDELINES
Posting Guidelines apply for comments as well. No foul language, hate mongering or personal attacks. If criticizing third person or an authority, you must be fact based, as constructive as possible, and use gentle words. Avoid going off-topic no matter how nice your comment is. Moderators reserve the right to either edit or simply delete comments that don't meet these guidelines. If you are nice enough to realize you violated the guidelines, please save Moderators some time by editing and fixing yourself. Thanks!