Leave aside cutting down five hundred trees for a moment. Lets get into engineering and traffic planning specifics. What BBMP is trying to do is widen this of stretch Bellary Road. There is some justification, stretch from Mekhari circle to Windsor Manor is a bit narrow to manage four lanes of traffic. The Cauvery junction Magic Box is tight on space.
If the BBMP is planning to widen this stretch, how would you squeeze more than four lanes under Windsor Manor bridge? (pic courtesy GoviFlicks@flickr)
If BBMP plans to widen the Mekhari Circle to Palace Road stretch to anything beyond four proper lanes, before implementing the plan, it owes us a preview of what will be done to the Windsor Manor Bridge. The volume of traffic joining in after this bridge (from palace road, Sankey Tank side can't be that high to justify six lane worth road only from this point.
Now, if BBMP does come with a smart plan to widen the Windsor manor stretch from four to six lanes, the question to ask is, why not think of a Bus Rapid Transport (BRTS) with high speed dedicated lanes from High Grounds Police station all the way till Yelahanka? After, you want to move people around fast, and safe, isn't it? Then lets just take the big and proper step, keep NH7 to four lanes, and keep two lanes (extra width, which would now be added till Mekhari Circle, and is already available beyond it (with exception of Hebbal flyover). Vaayu Vajra buses can do 140 kmph with ease. Dedicated lane, with limited stops, and both Yelahanka and Airport connectivity could get the boost we all want.
However, any talk of BRTS on NH7 would bring up the looming High Speed Rail proposal (HSRL). Why does widening of road not bring up the same question (HSRL is coming, why widen the road?) is what I would ask in the return. And let me answer that one myself. Its perhaps because BBMP does NOT care about PUBLIC transport. It only cares about ROADs. Sorry BBMP, we appreciate all the hard work that you put into all this, but despite that, this is what many Bangalore lovers think of your ROAD centric approach.
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Some widening needed, old 'report' on BRTS on Bellary Road
Must clarify again that even to get four proper lanes, and to fix the Cauvery junction chaos, BBMP does need some width. The question (and rhetoric) above applies if BBMP's plan is to go beyond four proper lanes to six (three in each direction).
Though not of super quality, it may be worth to dust off this 'feasibility report" for BRTS on Bellary Road. It doesn't talk about the stretch from Windsor to Hebbal though. Links to a PDF on BMTC website.
my 2cents
I think road widening is needed for HSRL to not to disturb regular traffic during HSRL works.