Some good work being done here proactively by citizens of Malleshwaram around the new mall thats coming up in the area...
Some preliminary problems that we saw at Orion mall:
- There is no dedicated lane for the autorikshaws.
- The parking for the two wheelers is separate from the parking for the cars and is also far from the Mall. This was creating chaos at the entrance of the mall. This may in the long run dissuade the two wheeler users not to come to the mall.
- The turning into the mall for the cars is at right angles-this can create a traffic jam on the main road. It is unfortunate that a slip road has not been designed to allow for smooth flow of traffic into the mall. Better signage needs to be put up.
- The car park is air conditioned!!!! At a time when the whole of Bangalore is going through a power crisis-not talking about the other crisis’s faced by the Bangaloreans. Can we in this day and age afford to build things that are not eco friendly-and have such a heavy carbon foot print???
From their findings I can infer there will be massive holdups when a stackinglane/slip lane is not provide for entry into the mall. Atleast the right turn into the mall from Rajajinagar side has not been allowed. While it might put pressure on the roundabout ahead it will not jam the street on both sides. Watch this space for more on how this mall copes up with traffic.
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Traffic study summary
The mall had a soft launch on Ugadi & is expected to commence full service Apr 15th. As per IRC 86-1983 a one way 2 lane 7.5 m carriageway should take 2400 PCU/hr for a C level of service. The traffic study put the traffic quite close to the limit already. Below is a summary of the data collected during the saturday study.
Data courtesy malleshwaram-matters.com
Malls & Traffic increase
Universally, it is to be expected that malls would induce more traffic. However, these two largest malls (Mantri square & Orion) will eventually have metro stations adjacent to them, as also Ascendas in ITPL, Forum at Prestige shantiniketan, Inorbit in whitefield & Nitesh mall in Indiranagar.
So, traffic growth can be curbed with congestion pricing, which will hopefully be taken up once the full phase-1 of metro is operational.
Well, I walked by Orion Mall
Well, I walked by Orion Mall this evening. The traffice actually doesnt seem so bad - its much better controlled than the situation at Mantri Mall. Though of course the mall isnt fully open yet - most importantly the gazillion theatres havent opened. I have no idea how they are going to regulate people who want to go North on Chord Road/Tumkur Road All traffic is forced on to Raj Kumar Road. Unless they have opened something on the other side near Columbia Asia hospital.
Ramesh
Food court & theaters are
Food court & theaters are enough clog up ay mall. The traffic just isnt there because only a handful of shops have opened on the 1st 2 floors of the 4 floor mall, most of the crowd is the star bazaar crowd.
For Peenya, the signal at 17th cross will take all of the turn else be prepared to have 17th cross & 8th main clogged.
Jams at Orion mall
Yesterday I happend to pass by Orion mall on my way back from Mysore. There was a bit of a jam - largely because the entrance to the mall, for four wheelers, is too narrow and there was a long line of cars waiting to get in. Added to this the design is a little odd - they make the cars drive along the mall in an internal road for a while to enter the parking lot. I think, though the main problem was that the entrance accommodates only one car at a time, so there was a backup. This backup extended all the way to the circle.
However, it was not as bad as Mantri mall and it took only about 5 minutes to cross that part. There also seemed to be some cops managing the situation. I think the other good thing is that they dont have autos haphazardly entering the road - its a little better managed than MM. In MM the autos block the smooth exit of cars. And in MM the problem is that is was already a bottleneck before MM existed - MM just made it far worse. And in MM there are all these small side roads which people enter from which adds to the chaos. All that is not there here.
All in all it appears that this mall handles traffic a lot better.
Ramesh
No I think they have a slight
No I think they have a slight locational advantage over mantri square. Its not on an already busy platform/sampige road & a little away from the junction unlike mantri square which prevents weaving. The internal road you are talking about is a stacking lane which is a good thing because the backup from the parking boom gates does not stretch into the street. Whatever back up you saw was hold up from exiting cars closer to the 17th cross signal. If you saw a queue waiting to enter its because there are cars & autos parked on the left lane bloakcing mall traffic & also people slowing down to check if they are actually entering in the right place due to lack of a prominent signboard ahead of time
The major mistake they have made is entrance & exit is to the same rajkumar road. If you look at other malls in the city like Forum Koramangala or Garuda they offer multiple exits dispersing the traffic. This is not being done in some of these larger malls being built now. They should allow entry & exit from the kirloskar road side was well which has a larger parking lot & put signboards to the effect. There is also a lot of slowing down & parking on the street side because parking signboard is too small. There has to be a big backlit "P" sign guiding visitors to the right place. Also the parking stewards need to keep the street clear of parked autos & cars, so the left most lane is made usable.
The backup was not caused by
The backup was not caused by 17th cross - the moment we passed the entry gate of the mall the traffic eased up. Of course there was another back-up at 17th Cross. This can also be eased by making an easy free left there - they have the land.
While you are right in saying that the internal road prevents the backup from the parking boom gates in this case the line to enter had stretched beyond the internal gate and extended all the way to the circle near the Sheraton hotel. I suppose its an exceptional thing since it was Sunday evening around 6 which is perhaps prime mall time and its a new mall so there is some novelty.
I suppose they should make an exit on to the back road - its quite easy as there is already one. I dont know if its possible to exit on to that road from the underground parking. They have another large parking structure for Sheraton and Columbia asia and that can be accessed on either side. I suppose this can also be used for the mall. They should make this clear so that the demand on the one entrance to the ug parking on Rajkumar Road is eased.
Ramesh