Bengaluru: Govt planning underground parking from Brigade Road to Commercial Street
Bengaluru: In an innovative idea to decongest city’s traffic, the government is planning to create underground parking corridor from Brigade Road to Commercial Street – the two major commercial hubs of the Central Business District — that will pass through Kamaraj Road.
City Development Minister K.J. George told the media on Monday that the corridor will be developed under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. “The plan is still at its nascent stage. It will be a two-tier corridor facility, which will have ample space for parking of vehicles. Parking lots on these roads are taking up a large amount of space and have reduced the thoroughfare for vehicles. We are in the process of calling for Expression of Interest for the project,” he said.
The 63-km Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) is top priority for the government, but the escalated cost of land acquisition is posing a major hurdle to the project. While the cost of the PRR project is around Rs 3,300 crore, land acquisition will alone cost Rs 8,000-plus crore as the government agencies have to follow the 2013 Land Acquisition Act, he said.
The government is serious about the suburban rail project too, and has earmarked Rs 100 crore for it in the recent budget. The total cost of the project is Rs 9,000 crore and the first phase will be executed at Rs 1,000 crore. The state government will fund a part of the project, while the rest will be borne by the Railway Ministry. “The first phase will cover Tumakuru and Yeshawantapura, Whitefield and Byyappanahalli, and Mandya and Kengeri,” he said.
The BMRCL will throw open the completed stretches of Nagasandra to Kempe Gowda Interchange and the entire East-West Corridor soon. “We are waiting for dates from Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to throw open the facility,” he said.
The Godavari Tunnel Boring Machine has reached the Majestic underground station and will exit on Tuesday morning. The tunneling work between Chickpet and Kempe Gowda interchange was delayed as some of the old structure on the stretch developed cracks because of the tunnel boring work, he said.
On the much delayed elevated road from Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal Flyover via Le-Meridian Hotel and Mekhri Circle, he said that the technical bid for the Rs 1,200-crore project has already been opened and the financial bid will be opened shortly.
