Commuters in Bengaluru will have to brace for a long period of disruption on one of the city's busiest roads, with traffic restrictions coming into force on Ballari Road from Friday, November 6, as the Bangalore Development Authority begins construction of a four-lane elevated corridor. The restrictions will remain in place for around 18 months, and will affect everyone travelling between Hebbal, central Bengaluru and Kempegowda International Airport.
The project involves the construction of a 1.6-kilometre elevated corridor between the University of Agricultural Sciences staff quarters on Ballari Road and a raised rotary flyover at Mehkri Circle. The work has been awarded to Hyderabad-based Auro Infra Private Limited for 420 crore rupees, with a mandatory execution timeline of 18 months.
The elevated corridor is part of the Bangalore Development Authority's larger 2,215 crore rupee project aimed at easing congestion around the busy Hebbal junction, one of the most congested points in the city.
Ballari Road is a major northern arterial highway in Bengaluru and serves as the main gateway connecting the city centre to the airport. Lakhs of people use the road every day, including thousands of commuters travelling to and from Kempegowda International Airport.
The decision to take up construction on this stretch was therefore always going to mean significant disruption, and the Bengaluru Traffic Police have drawn up a detailed plan of restrictions and diversions to manage the anticipated congestion.
Under the traffic advisory issued by the Bengaluru Traffic Police, the movement of all goods vehicles, including light goods vehicles, medium goods vehicles and heavy goods vehicles, as well as Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses and private buses, has been completely prohibited on Ballari Road for the duration of the construction work.
The restrictions apply to the stretch falling under the jurisdiction of the Sadashivanagar and Sanjaynagar traffic police stations. Cars, two-wheelers, auto rickshaws and school buses can continue to use the road as usual.
The police have laid out alternative routes for vehicles travelling towards the airport and the city. Motorists heading towards Kempegowda International Airport from Hebbal have been advised to take the route via Old High Grounds Junction, Kalpana Junction, Old Udaya TV Junction, Cantonment Railway Station, Tannery Road and Nagawara Road, before proceeding towards the airport.
Vehicles travelling from Yeshwanthpur towards the airport have been advised to proceed via Mathikere Road, take a right turn at BEL Circle, and continue via the Ring Road towards the airport.
For the return journey, vehicles travelling from the airport towards the central parts of Bengaluru have been advised to take a left turn at Hebbal, proceed towards Nagawara Junction, take a right turn and continue via Bamboo Bazaar and Queens Road towards the city.
Alternatively, they may take a right turn at Hebbal and proceed via Hebbal Ring Road, Kuvempu Circle and Goraguntepalya Junction, and then take a left turn at Goraguntepalya Junction and continue via Dr Rajkumar Road towards the city. Vehicles travelling from Yeshwanthpur towards the central parts of the city have been advised to proceed via BHEL Junction, take a right turn near Maramma Circle and continue via Margosa Road.
Vehicles travelling from Hebbal towards Bengaluru city have been advised to enter the service road in front of Baptist Hospital after descending the Hebbal Flyover and continue along the service road up to CBI Junction, before proceeding towards the city via Ballari Main Road.
Those heading from Hebbal towards Anand Nagar and RT Nagar have been advised to use the same service road, proceed towards Anand Nagar Cross, and take a left turn at CBI Junction to join Anand Nagar Main Road, continuing towards RT Nagar and Jayamahal Road. Emergency vehicles travelling via Hebbal towards the airport and the city have also been advised to follow the designated alternative routes.
The traffic police have urged commuters to follow the diversions and allow extra travel time, particularly during peak hours, as construction activity is expected to continue for the next 18 months. Airport-bound travellers, in particular, have been advised to plan their journeys with a comfortable buffer, since the diversions add distance and the alternative routes themselves are likely to carry heavier traffic than usual.
The project has been a long time in the making. The Hebbal junction, where Ballari Road meets the Outer Ring Road, is one of Bengaluru's worst bottlenecks, carrying traffic from the airport, the northern suburbs, the city centre and the technology corridors on the Outer Ring Road.
The elevated corridor between the University of Agricultural Sciences staff quarters and Mehkri Circle is intended to separate through traffic heading to and from the airport from local traffic, easing the pressure on the Hebbal flyover and the junctions around it. The corridor is part of a broader package of works around Hebbal that the development authority has been planning for years.
The 18-month timeline, however, puts the spotlight on the development authority's ability to complete the project within the stipulated deadline. Civic projects in Bengaluru rarely meet their initial deadlines, and commuters will be watching closely to see whether the corridor is delivered on schedule.
The contract with Auro Infra carries a mandatory 18-month execution timeline, but past experience with flyovers and road works in the city suggests that delays are common, driven by land acquisition, utility shifting, weather and coordination between agencies.
For now, the immediate concern is the daily commute. The ban on goods vehicles and buses on the affected stretch will push heavy traffic onto alternative roads, and residents of the neighbourhoods around those routes are likely to feel the effects as well. The traffic police have said the restrictions are necessary to keep the construction zone safe and to keep traffic moving, and have asked for the cooperation of commuters and transport operators.
Buses that normally use Ballari Road will have to reroute, and passengers travelling to the airport by bus will need to check revised routes and timings with operators.
The start of work on November 6 marks the beginning of a long adjustment for Bengaluru's northern corridor. Over the next year and a half, the city's airport road will be a construction site as much as a thoroughfare, and the success of the project will be judged not only by the corridor that eventually opens, but by how well the city copes with the disruption in the meantime.
For the lakhs of people who depend on Ballari Road every day, the advice from the traffic police is simple: know the diversions, leave early, and expect the journey to take longer than it used to.
(Reporting based on The New Indian Express, Deccan Herald, The Indian Express, The Times of India and NDTV.)