Kamal Ghorui
Bengaluru: Soon, commuters on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) may be able to bypass the congested Iblur Junction and save 10-15 minutes of travel time, with the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) proposing an 800-metre-long flyover between HSR Layout and Bellandur.At present, a flyover from Kadubeesanahalli towards Silk Board allows signal-free movement for vehicles heading in that direction, enabling commuters to skip the Iblur signal entirely. However, a parallel flyover for traffic moving from Silk Board towards Marathahalli — originally planned along with the existing structure — was never taken up. The absence of this flyover has made Iblur Junction one of the worst bottlenecks on ORR.
With no grade separator from Agara towards Marathahalli, vehicles from Sarjapur Road, Koramangala, Silk Board, and ORR converge at Iblur signal, leading to daily traffic pile-ups. The congestion often spills backwards, choking the Agara flyover and extending all the way to the HSR flyover during peak hours.The proposed flyover aims to provide uninterrupted, signal-free movement on ORR, easing congestion particularly at Iblur Junction. Although the parallel flyover should ideally have been built when the first one came up, GBA is now moving ahead with plans to finally address the long-pending gap.During a review on Tuesday, GBA chief commissioner Maheshwar Rao inspected the junction and directed engineers to prepare a feasibility report before proceeding with the project.Flyover falls under 2 city corporationsInterestingly, the proposed 800-metre flyover will span two city corporations. While the stretch towards Kadubeesanahalli falls under Bengaluru East city corporation, the portion towards HSR Layout comes under South city corporation.Clarifying how the project will be executed, an engineer told TOI the construction will be taken up by only one corporation. “Both corporation commissioners will sit together and decide which one will take up the work,” the engineer said, adding that the decision may depend on budget availability with the corporation.Engineers also clarified that the flyover will not be part of the Rs 400-crore ORR makeover project. Instead, it will be funded separately, either by the city corporation concerned or with additional support from the govt.
