After three days of experimentation, the Bengaluru Traffic Police have concluded that the traffic bottleneck between Dairy Circle and Bannerghatta Road cannot be resolved by making B.G. Road into a one-way.
The flaw in the experimental drive was that it was started during a weekend when the IT-BT companies located near Dairy Circle were closed and the real impact of the one-way norm could have been known only if it was examined over a week, said sources. Supported by maps, the traffic police had chalked up an elaborate plant to ease congestion on the busy Bannerghatta Road and one-ways were implemented on Bannerghatta Road and East-End road on an experimental basis. Barricades were erected to make the road one-way, direction posters were put up and traffic cops deployed to guide commuters. The drive, however, did not have the expected results.
“It was a good initiative by partially making B.G. Road one way. The chaos that we witness every day at Dairy Circle could have been solved. But Bangalore Traffic Police went wrong in starting the drive on a Saturday when there are no bottle-necks on this stretch. The drive was on till Monday morning after which the traffic police decided to revert back to two-way. They could have at least seen the result of one-way traffic till Monday evening. It was chaotic on Monday morning because not many were aware of the change. But if the drive could have continued for a few more days, I’m sure it would have been welcome,” said Mr Ravi Kumar, employee of Accenture.
The move was helpful for those coming from Dairy Circle to Jayadeva. Sources said that the one-way was removed as was inconvenient for bigwigs residing in JP Nagar area who had to take a longer route while commuting from Jayadeva towards Sagar Apollo.