Source: The Times of India

The Peripheral Ring Road will augment connectivity around the city and open up more land parcels for development

To cater to the increasing vehicular population on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and provide a link to emerging localities in the peripheral areas, the ambitious Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project was conceived. Since it connects four major highways - Hosur Road, Tumkur Road, Old Madras Road, and Mysore Road - it will help reduce congestion by diverting heavy traffic away from the city's roads.

PRESENT STATUS

The 116-km radial eightlane road's first phase - from Tumkur Road (NH-4) in the north to Hosur Road (NH-7) in the south, connecting Hesarghatta Road (SH-39), Doddaballapur Road (SH-9), Bellary Road (NH-7), Hennur Road (SH-74A), Old Madras Road (NH-4), Whitefield Road, and Sarjapur Road is in the Request for Qualification (RFQ) stage. Once the bidders are shortlisted and finalised, the work order will be issued.

An official in the BDA says, "We are facing some problems with land acquisition. Once that is sorted out, the process of finalising tenders will begin." Totally, 3,530 acres of land will be acquired for the PRR. It will be a public-private partnership (PPP) project. The first phase will be completed in three to four years at an estimated cost of Rs 3,000 crores.

Approximately, around 1,835 acres will be acquired for Phase-I from 66 villages in Bangalore north, east, and Anekal. In the north, acquisition for Phase-1 will cover five hoblis or a cluster of villages - Dasanapura, Yeshwathpur, Yelahanka, Hessaraghatta, and Jala. In the east, land from 32 villages from K R Puram, Bidarahalli, and Varthur hoblis will be acquired. Land in nine villages will be acquired from Sarjapura and Attibele hoblis in Anekal taluk.

At the junctions where the four National Highways and the five State Highways connect to the PRR, there will interchanges. The junctions will be made signal-free for smooth flow of traffic without interruptions. The design speed of the loops and ramps at the interchanges will be 40 kmph. Toll plazas will be provided at entry and exit ramps.

To ensure seamless connectivity, the Hubli, Chikkaballapur, Doddaballapur, Chennai, and Salem railways line crossings intersecting the PRR will be provided with railway over bridges (ROBs).

For Phase-II, land from 38 villages will in Anekal, Bangalore south and north will be acquired for the 51-km stretch from Hosur Road to Tumkur Road. In Anekal taluk, land from 10 villages in Attibele and Jigani hoblis will be acquired. Land from 18 villages in Begur, Uttarahalli, and Kengeri hoblis will be acquired in the south. From the Yeshwanthpur and Dasanapura hoblis in the north, land from 10 villages will be acquired.

CONNECTIVITY

ADVANTAGE TO PERIPHERAL AREAS

With the city extending to the peripheral areas due to lower land costs, availability of large land parcels, and the next phase of IT and industrial development taking off, seamless connectivity to the outskirts, through the PRR, has become crucial.

RESIDENTIAL SPREAD

Several new residential projects by the BDA and private developers are emerging around the PRR. The Supreme Court recently gave the go-ahead for BDA's Arkavathy Layout project which will come up with more than 20,000 sites. Phase II of the Karnataka Housing Board's Suryanagar Layout near Electronics City will see the formation of 4,100 sites in three months' time. In two years, houses will be ready here.

Apart from these two projects, the BDA has also come out with five self-sustaining residential layouts in the peripheral areas - Dr K Shivarama Karanth Layout (between Doddaballapur Road and Hesaraghatta Road), D Devaraj Urs Layout (between Airport Road and Varthur village), S Nijalingappa Layout (between Varthur Village and Sarjapur Road), K C Reddy Layout between Hosur Road and Sarjapur Road, and the Kempegowda Layout (between Magadi Road and Mysore Road).

Around 1.75 lakh sites will be formed in all these layouts. Presently, the final notification has been issued for the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout coming up in the western quadrant of the city. The BDA will soon issue the preliminary notification for Dr Shivarama Karanth Layout.

BOOST TO REALTY

Upcoming IT and ITeS parks and aerospace SEZs, warehousing and logistics companies, and residential areas will benefit from connectivity through the PRR. Seamless connectivity, along with dedicated corridors for local and long distance traffic, bus corridors, vehicular and pedestrian underpasses will give a boost to areas around the PRR.

LOCALITIES THAT WILL BENEFIT FROM CONNECTIVITY THANKS TO THE PRR

NORTH
Yeshwanthpur, Peenya, Hesaraghatta, Yelahanka, Bellary Road and Hebbal

SOUTH
Sarjapur Road, Hosur Road, Electronics City, Anekal, and Jigani

EAST
Varthur, Whitefield, Old Madras Road

WEST
Rajarajeshwarinagar, Kengeri, Mysore Road, Tumkur Road, and Magadi Road

SOME FACTS ABOUT PRR
Distance from GPO: 18-23 km

JUNCTIONS IN PHASE I:

• Madanayakanahalli (Tumkur Road)
• Soladevanahalli (Hesaraghatta Road)
• Harohalli (Doddaballapura Road)
• Venkatala (Bellary Road)
• Chikkagubbi (Hennur Road)
• Avalahalli (Old Madras Road)
• Seegehalli (Whitefield Road)
• Solanakunte (Sarjapur Road)
• Hebbagodi (Hosur Road)

COST FOR PHASE 1: Rs 3,000 crores

MODE OF EXECUTION OF PROJECT :
Public-private partnership model