Soon, 25 cities across state to have outer ring roads to ease traffic

Bengaluru: In order to decongest city traffic and reduce urban pollution Outer Ring Roads (ORR’s) will be built in more than 25 cities in the 25 districts of the state over the next two years.

Divulging the details to media, Secretary of Urban Development V. Ponraj said, “The State Urban Development Department has already begun work on this and according to its report, all districts except Kodagu need outer ring road.

According to officials in the department, this move will help control traffic congestion on urban roads and reduce pollution in urban areas.

The project involves three phases and the department has been working on land acquisition and the Public Works Department will take up road construction, states Ponnuraj.

According to the scheme, outside of outer ring road cities will be constructed at a distance of 8 to 12 km from the existing city centre. Central assistance will be sought for the project, confirmed Ponnuraj but refused to divulge project's estimated cost.

Even cities like Mysore require an outer ring road, opined Ponnuraj and said travelers approaching the city via Mandya and Ramnagar can reach early, if ring roads are built around those cities. This will prevent them from getting trapped in city traffic and reduce travel time between cities, they added. The same logic applies to Chanarayapatnam in Hassan district, said Ponnuraj.