Mysuru: The Bengaluru-Mysuru Road and Outer Ring Road Junction, near Columbia Asia Hospital, one of the major traffic bottlenecks in the city, will become signal-free as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has approved the proposal of developing the junction in a clover leaf shape.

Clover Leaf Interchanges in major cities are a boon for the Indian road network as it minimises traffic and takes road infrastructure to new levels. They are actually called Clover-Shaped Interchange or Clover Leaf Interchange.

In transportation engineering, an interchange is a junction that uses a grade separation technique or ramping mechanism consisting of one or more ramps to allow the traffic flow from one or more Highways through the junction even without actually crossing it or without disturbing the movement of other traffic streams.

An example of a Clover Leaf Interchange can be found on the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor or BMIC. It is a four to six-lane private tolled expressway connecting the two cities. The BMIC Clover Leaf Interchange intersects the BMIC Mysore Road and BMIC Peripheral Ring Road.

Similar Clover Leaf Interchange will be built at Columbia Asia Junction. B.T. Sridhar, Project Director, NHAI Mysuru-Bengaluru Highway Expansion Works said, “With the help of a flyover, vehicles can cross the junction without any signals.” He said that the Mysuru-Bengaluru 10-lane Highway concludes at this junction.

“Once this junction is developed, vehicles can move towards T.Narasipur, Mysuru city and other areas without facing any difficulties. The work will be taken up soon,” he said. The proposed project is coming up at an estimated cost of Rs. 150 crore including the cost for land acquisition.

“Once the project is implemented, it will ensure hassle-free vehicle movement on the Ring Road and National Highway connecting Bengaluru from Bannimantap side to Mysuru.” Many feel that the Clover Leaf concept is a good idea at this junction which is the entry point to the city.

The concept of Clover Leaf Interchange will help the city cope with the increasing vehicle density in the long run, say experts.