Tender works for the 22-km East-West Tunnel Road project connecting K.R. Puram to Nayandahalli will be floated soon, said Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda.

“The solution to Bengaluru’s traffic congestion is comprehensive plans, including metro networks and tunnel roads, overlapped by elevated corridors,” the Minister said, addressing the media after reviewing B-SMILE works on Monday. 

Additionally, elevated roads will be given priority. “Of the target of 150 km of elevated corridors across the city, tenders will soon be floated for 75 km of corridor works, with each elevated road ranging between 2 km and 15 km,” the Minister said.

He added that elevated corridors longer than 10 km will be tolled. “The primary roads will still be open. That is the public’s right. We are not stopping them from using those roads, but if one needs to go faster, tolls have to be paid. This is just to ease traffic for those who need it,” the Minister said.

Private companies will fund the projects, and the viability gap funding will be provided by the government. 

Bengaluru has 1.2 crore vehicles, he said, adding that the number is increasing every day. “No matter how much we expand the metro, people will still be on the roads. We need to provide the facilities that the people need. We need to develop major roads, high-density roads, and outer ring roads. Along with all these, we need to identify traffic problems and provide comprehensive solutions,” he said.

Building flyovers or tunnels alone would not solve congestion, but would only shift it, the Minister said, stressing the need for solutions like overlapping elevated corridors with tunnel roads, apart from improving metro and bus connections, and improving the roads leading to these public transport sites.

“Future challenges must also be considered while addressing current issues,” he said, adding that the tunnel road and elevated corridor projects are “expert and research-backed solutions”. 

ORR redevelopment

The Minister said discussions around the need for the redevelopment of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) have been going on. “There is no hesitation in moving forward with the project, but its timing is being considered carefully as metro construction is ongoing. If both are taken up simultaneously, people will face a lot of inconvenience because of the high daily traffic, especially in the IT corridors,” he said.