Title - Authorities wake up to Jalahalli railway crossing bottleneck

Those forced to wait for long at the Jalahalli railway level crossing, one of the busiest in the city both for movement of trains as well as road traffic, may find their ordeal somewhat assuaged a year from now. There are two railway lines here, and consequently, two sets of railway gates.To get around this bottleneck, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and the South Western Railway (SWR) plan to construct a road overbridge (ROB) to link the stretches of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) dissected by the Bangalore-Tumkur Railway line and a loop railway line.Sources told The Hindu that they expect work on the Rs. 28-crore project to be completed in a year. This 1.1-km structure will have two carriageways of 5.5 m each.The ORR, connecting Tumkur Road and Bellary Road passes through defence (Air Force) property just after Tumkur Road before it crosses the railway lines and thence to Jalahalli village and BEL Circle before joining Bellary Road.

Daily ordeal
It is a daily ordeal for those commuting on this stretch of the ORR. K. Nagaraj Karanth, a software engineer who lives in Nagarabhavi, says he is forced to wait at least 15-20 minutes at the level crossing every day to his workplace near Hebbal and back.While it is a smooth drive from Nagarabhavi till Goraguntepalya Junction on the ORR, a distance of about 7 km, driving the next one km is a nightmare. These days he has started to use the HMT Link Road.The stretch between Goraguntepalya and Jalahalli sees heavy movement of lorries as it is the only road connecting Tumkur Road, Bellary Road and Old Madras Road. Thousands of heavy vehicles ply on this road every day and the two-lane road as well as the railway crossing don't help, a traffic police constable posted nearby pointed out.

Belling the cat
The traffic police, which is stretched regulating traffic, is now concerned with traffic diversions to facilitate the ROB construction. While alternatives are being examined, including allowing traffic on HMT Link Road or via Yeshwanthpur and C.N.R. Rao Circle, it feels these roads may not be able to cope with lorry traffic.Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic-North), R.N. Nataraj told The Hindu that the only viable alternative is the vacant defence land just next to the railway tracks on the ORR. The authorities concerned, BDA, SWR and Traffic Police, have requested the Defence authorities to provide the land temporarily for traffic diversion, he said.While the ROB on HMT Link Road cannot take lorry traffic, the incomplete grade separator at C.N.R. Rao Circle may impede diversion via Yeshwanthpur, Mr. Nataraj said.