Bengaluru: Bus priority lane may be extended to entire ORR and major highways

BENGALURU: After Silk Board to KR Puram, the bus priority lane is likely to be extended to the remaining sections of Outer Ring Road (ORR) in the next few months. The government is also in talks with National Highways Authority of India to replicate these lanes on major highways in the city.
Under the project, the road’s extreme left is reserved for BMTC buses. The pilot run between Silk Board and KR Puram on ORR was launched in November 2019. However, the project is yet to be officially flagged off. “The initiative was supposed to have been inaugurated on December 27, 2020, but was postponed at the last minute as the CM had other engagements. It is expected to be launched in the next few weeks during the CM’s city rounds,” said a source.
Sources said bus priority lanes will be implemented between KR Puram-Hebbal and Nayandahalli-Goraguntepalya sections on ORR in the next phase. Once NHAI gives its nod, similar lanes are likely to be demarcated on highways, including Silk Board-Hebbagodi on Hosur Road, KR Puram-Budigere Cross on Old Madras Road, Hebbal-Yelahanka on Ballari Road and Yeshwantpur-BIEC on Tumakuru Road.
The government is also planning a bus priority lane between Sirsi Circle and Kengeri on Mysuru Road once Metro work at Kengeri is over. “We will provide bus tracks on roads with six or more lanes. On such roads, one lane can be earmarked for buses, but it is not possible to provide priority lanes on all thoroughfares.