City’s future hinges on smart traffic planning

If New Bus Stand is shifted to Bannimantap…

• Nelson Mandela Road (Dasara Procession Road) will be overwhelmed.
• Millennium Circle facing LIC Building will  be in utter chaos.
• New Bus Stand should be located beyond Outer Ring Road near to Railway Station.
• It is imperative to start planning for a Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS).
• Introduce tunnelled local bus routes.
• Raise the planning standards from the present short-sighted planning.

By V.N. Prasad

Over the past couple of weeks, I came across several articles and letters to the editor published in Star of Mysore regarding the shifting of the Sub-Urban Bus Stand to Bannimantap, a proposal passed by the Cabinet and public outcry opposing it.

I wanted to share my thoughts on traffic engineering, in addition to the statistical data and consequences highlighted in those articles.

No reasonable person would agree that our Governments possess the competence to deliver well-thought-out proposals on the ground. The city is rife with examples of recently laid infrastructure that is substandard, to say the least. While citizens are left frustrated, the Government remains indifferent.

Our planning division leaves much to be desired. To illustrate, a simple drive from 6th Main, Vijayanagar I Stage, to the Outer Ring Road (ORR) is enough to reveal the glaring shortcomings of our Town Planners. It’s nothing short of appalling.

Coming to the matter at hand, the Cabinet has approved the partial relocation of the Sub-Urban Bus Stand to Bannimantap. However, it remains unclear which parts will stay at the current location and which will move to Bannimantap.

There is no doubt that the Sub-Urban Bus Stand and the City Railway Station require relocation sooner rather than later. However, these issues cannot be addressed in isolation.

An integrated development plan is essential to provide a long-term solution, requiring the Ministry of Railways, the Government of India and the Karnataka Government to collaboratively develop a comprehensive master plan. Based on my experience with the Outer Ring Road, getting the Ministry of Railways to open up railway embankments and construct RCC tunnels to complete both lanes of the ORR was an arduous task.

It took the Railways 12 – 13 years to co-operate and complete this relatively simple job, despite numerous meetings and endless correspondence. Even now, the tunnels are still under construction. Given this precedent, expecting the Railway Ministry to develop a master plan for a new Railway Station in Mysuru might take an eternity.

Illogical, as per traffic engineering perspective

The current efforts to relocate the bus stand are temporary. The question, however, is whether this temporary arrangement is logical. From a traffic engineering perspective, it is not.

If all Bengaluru-bound buses are shifted to Bannimantap, Nelson Mandela Road — already a busy thoroughfare — will be overwhelmed by various categories of buses. Adding to the chaos is the Millennium Circle, which should already have a grade separator but instead carries heavy traffic.                      To make matters worse, unscientific interventions in this Circle, such as the creation of poorly planned traffic islands, resemble the work of an amateur. God help us all.

If not Bannimantap, where should the bus stand be shifted? Ideally, the entire bus stand should be relocated beyond the Outer Ring Road, after carefully analysing the area where the Railway Ministry is likely to move the Railway Station. This would allow for tunnels or skywalks for seamless accessibility. Additionally, the relocation should incorporate well-designed entry and exit points, such as cloverleaf interchanges, to integrate traffic efficiently with the ORR.

Comprehensive planning needed

This comprehensive plan would ensure that all buses — incoming and outgoing — utilise the ORR for access. Imposing a Government mandate that all buses enter and exit the city via the ORR and proceed to the Highways would help alleviate the city’s bus traffic.

However, the Government must ensure efficient connectivity between the new bus stand and all city localities. To achieve this, more local buses should be deployed along the ORR.

As for a Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), it is imperative to start planning now. Introducing tunnelled local bus routes would also be beneficial in the long term. Admittedly, these are cost-intensive solutions, but our city deserves forward-thinking planning now. With the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) expected to come up soon, effective planning to integrate the ORR and PRR will further help decongest traffic.

These initiatives require highly competent Detailed Project Report (DPR) consultants. Without a rigorous process to shortlist qualified professionals, we are likely to witness only periodic spectacles orchestrated by our elected representatives and consultants.

China model

On a personal note, my wife and I  visited China before the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being a communist country, it was a sight to behold — beauty beyond words everywhere. I strongly encourage readers to visit and observe the development in detail.

The engineering marvels are astounding. Despite their huge population and high numbers of vehicles, road users adhere to laws and rules without chaos. Roads crossing main arteries are elevated or tunnelled, making for a truly pleasurable experience.

Comrades, I shudder to think of the challenges our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will face with the current decline in planning standards. It’s disheartening to imagine what Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar and the great Dewans would think, seeing our Heritage City suffer at the hands of inept planners.

[The author is a Design Engineer & Project Management Consultant, Roads (Retd.)]