SUCH a badly designed flyover

[deponti]

I have a sort of maternal interest in that misbegotten child of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, the Jayadeva flyover. I want to point out here, another instance of bad design. You would think that when they design a flyover on a busy arterial road (it's also a highway), they would make allowances for bus stops...ha, ha, ha

Comments

[usha123]

and those of us who live on the wrong side of Bannerghatta Road now find it almost impossible to get to the other side on foot..so now I am in the paradoxical situation of driving to my morning walk at the mini forest because I dont fancy being in the newspapers the next morning as 'pedestrian hit from behind, etc..'

maybe some of us should get together to make a serious representation to BMP and BMRTC reg bus stops and pedestrian crossings..

Blame the buses, not the design of the flyover

[manubhardwaj]

On the other hand, I think the flyover has helped traffic flow tremendously. Given that I only drive in an air-conditioned car to and from Jayanagar (and don't take walks at the miniforest), the flyover has been a huge boon. After I pass the small traffic jam near Jeedi Maraa bus stand, it's a breeze to get all the way to Jayanagar: either using the underpass till Sagar Apollo or by taking a left turn near Progeon.

When you think about it, the flyover design has nothing to do with the bus stops. The bus stops are artificially created by the BMTC or by the demand of the passengers themselves. By order, the buses should be told not to stop at the flyover, but instead to stop at designated stops before or after it. In fact, the problem is bigger than that: BTMC buses everywhere must be forced to queue up rather than keep trying to overtake each other.

Previously, our house used to be an untarred throughfare on an untarred road, and every single exit was a traffic jam: either towards BTM or towards Jayanagar. Now everything is so much

[jace]

iawtc.

iawtc?

[usha123]

?

[deponti]

HEY!!!RYAOTLJOAI (Remember you are on the live journal of an ignoramus--esp when it comes to all these initials...)

what would

iawtc

mean?

islam against world trade centre? in a while, the crocodile? is added with the curry? indian attractively wealthy teetotal crone? (hey, all of you...make up some more, let's have fun!)

[jace]

Wish it were that exciting. It just means "I Agree With This Comment".

Re: Blame the buses, not the design of the flyover

[usha123]

Manu, iaopwtc! (only partially)
considering our conditions, the planners need to plan systems that are pedestrian and mass transport friendly too!
I remember a young woman from Denmark saying after an exchange semester at a US university (I dont remember which place in the US) that she thought America had cars in the place of brains..(apologies to the Americans reading this..this is a 'quote' from a person who came from a predominantly pedestrian friendly country!)..I think Bangalore is getting there too..

Re: Blame the buses, not the design of the flyover

[deep_musings]

I agree with you totally. The planners must take everybody into consideration, not just commuters in air conditioned cars especially when the number of people falling in the bus commuting or pedestrian category is non-trivial.

Re: Blame the buses, not the design of the flyover

[deponti]

NS....do we get the feeling we are joining a mother-son kind of conversation, somehow!?

Unless Bangalore takes active steps to persuade more people to travel by bus NOW ( leave alone those castles-in-the-air MetroRail which MIGHT come up on limited stretches after a few decades), our traffic may actually, though it doesn't seem possible, get worse. But it is the a/c cars(each with one high-powered executive in it) which seem to get all the priority now.

Re: Blame the buses, not the design of the flyover

[manubhardwaj]

Heheh. Blame usha123 for my air-conditioned car ;-)

Re: Blame the buses, not the design of the flyover

[deponti]

oh, I am equally guilty ,manubhardwaj.....after yowling about the gas-guzzling of the CR-V, I then irritate my husband by wanting to drive it all the time on the highway!

You might like to check out rohan_kini who cycles every day from Jayanagar to Airport Road, to work and back, and has just got a supercool bike from the Firefox Cycle Shop! And also, other cyclists like deepsan who cycle to Hampi on weekends...this is a far cry from me cycling my little rattletrap to 9th block and Ranga Shankara , and thinking I am being non-polluting!

Re: Blame the buses, not the design of the flyover

[deponti]

"she thought America had cars in the place of brains.."

Usha...the funniest comments are those that one agrees with...it's true of many "developed" countries, not just America, though....I say this is becoming SO true of us, too, I see the way pavements are being narrowed down to make way for more traffic in Bangalore. In front of my apartment building, the road is over 120ft wide..and the "pavement" is about 6 ft wide, with ups and downs and no ramps, no place for plants, leave alone trees...

I do love walking in several countries in Europe, and would agree with that young woman!

funny

[wondernoon]

Usha123 - though you didn't intend for it to be funny - it is funny! Having to drive for your walk! :)
Great pics to illustrate your point Deponti. Well seeing the comment below - not sure who to blame - buses or the flyover itself - but hope somehow it can be fixed? I mean the pedestrian traffic issue and people having to stand precariously on the divider waiting for the buses... Possible at all?

Re: funny

[usha123]

actually was meant to be .. one of my standard jokes these days :-(

Re: funny

[deponti]

Huh! Do you know how many hundreds of people drive to Cubbon Park or Lalbagh for their morning walk?

Our building is going to fight for our service road to be restored (the traffic never comes up to the edge anyway, it is just a kind of no-traffic zone for autos and vans to park now) and trees planted on it...as of now, I don't see light at the end of the tunnel...