Outer Ring Road: Pop-up cycle lanes on ORR?

DULT studying the proposal; officials inspect busy stretch to understand feasibility of the project

The Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), which reports to the Urban Development Department of the State Government, is examining the possibility of creating pop-up cycle lane along the Outer Ring Road (ORR) between Central Silk Board and KR Puram. The proposal comes at a time when numerous cities across the globe are setting up temporary cycle lanes to help people get around during the pandemic.

On Wednesday, a team of officers, including DULT Commissioner V Manjula, City police commissioner Bhaskar Rao along with municipal corporation and traffic police officials, took an inspection of the busy stretch to understand the feasibility of the project.

It’s learnt that the right or left lane of the service road was found ideal for creating a cycle lane. Authorities expect the cycle lane on the ORR could attract more users.

The pop-up cycle lane concept is also a proposal presented by a group of cyclists to the government including ‘Bicycle Mayor of Bengaluru’ Sathya Sankaran. The proposal is intended to encourage cyclists as it would keep them away from the heavy vehicles and fast-moving cars that have been posting a safety threat to the budding cyclists.

“Cycling, besides keeping one fit, will also help the cyclist to stay socially distanced and provides a good alternative from using public transport during the pandemic,” said Sathya Sankaran, who has come up with a proposal to create cycle lanes on about 55-km of the road in Bengaluru.

A senior official in DULT said they would conduct the feasibility of having a dedicated cycle lane on the ORR, where the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike (BBMP) is already creating a lane exclusively for buses. While the bus lane is coming up on the left side of the main carriageway, the cycle lane might come up on the right side of the service road.

DULT Commissioner V Manjula was unavailable for comment.