Widening Palace Road at the cost of trees is not a solution

There is a proposal to widen The Palace Road (TPR) in Bangalore for ensuring smooth flow of traffic to the Airport. Apart from the economic cost, the bigger one is the ecological cost which will be paid in the form of felling 856 trees. Thanks to citizen protests and Chief Secretary of the Government of Karnataka, Shri S V Ranganath, IAS, the BBMP has been asked to rework the plan/find alternatives and reduce substantially the number of trees to be felled. The Chief Secretary truly needs to be complemented for his vision and compassion towards ecological issues. We need more senior officials like him who take note of citizen concerns.

This blog is not about criticizing the Government. Through this blog I am trying to suggest possible solutions to the perennial question "Do Bangalore roads require widening?"

This blog written in two parts is based on my own experience in using Bangalore roads in all the forms possible i.e. pedestrian, motorist and a four wheeler user. This blog is based on a couple of RTI applications made to the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (the sole public transport option in Bangalore).

To begin with, should Bangalore roads be widened? The simple answer is No, Never and Impossible. A question may arise why is it impossible? The numbers of two and four wheelers on Bangalore roads are increasing at a neck-breaking pace. Widening roads to meet increased population of two and four wheelers is like a captain in Cricket trying to set a field for bad bowling! How much can the roads be widened, from 80 to 120 feet; from 100 to 150; next 150 to 200 and at this rate Bangalore will become a "Road City".

Coming to the hotbed of road widening in Bangalore i.e. TPR, the stretch from Doordarshan studios to Mekhri Circle is an oasis in the mad traffic of Bangalore. A road laden with trees on either side of the road! How can such a haven be done away with to ensure smooth journey for an air-traveller? I have nothing against people going by a flight but this price is too much to pay for their comfort. The most important thing to bear in mind is that not all those going to Bangalore International Airport use this road. It is only those people coming from North-Eastern part of Bangalore who use this road. Let them plan their journeys better or use public transport to reach the airport.

The biggest irony in this clamour for widening of TPR is the mess that has been recently created thanks to a grade separator which has been constructed near the Cantonment Railway Station. There are two approach roads to TPR viz., Via Theological College on Millers Road and another via Nandidurg Road. Millers Road is wide enough whereas Nandidurg Road is a narrower road. Thanks to a grade separator constructed near the Cantonment Railway Station under-bridge, the Theological College Road has become a virtual one way whereas the narrower Nandidurg Road has become a bottleneck for traffic. It is the impact of this faulty construction which has made widening of TPR imperative.

The simple logic applicable in Bangalore Roads is "Wider the road, crazier the traffic goes". The traffic police cannot be blamed for this mess because traffic discipline has to be a citizen initiative and cannot be enforced upon. If you follow lane discipline, drive at prescribed speed limits, maintain distance between vehicles and such other traffic courtesies, etc. be ready to see the middle finger of an overtaking vehicle or get the choicest abuses. Traffic in Bangalore has become so impolite that even an Ambulance finds it difficult to make its way through. On TPR, it is a common sight to see motorist ride on footpaths to beat the traffic, does that mean, next footpaths will be eliminated from the roads?

That Bangalore roads don’t befit its status of being the Silicon City of the country is too well documented. The road in question, TPR, is broken so badly in the stretch from Fun World to Doordarshan Signal that at times I feel it would be better to carry my car on the shoulders rather than drive on this stretch. Will widening this road or for that matter any road improve its maintenance? It is important to bear in mind, that a well maintained road ensures smoother movement of traffic than a wide road which is badly maintained. Seshadri Road was widened after felling a lot of trees, has it improved the situation there? The answer is no.

In my next part on this issue, I will be discussing Public Transport solutions as against widening Bangalore Roads and a few other issues related to Bangalore roads.

[NOTE: Post now cleaned up for excessive formatting - admin]