The ordeal of road users in the central business district — Old Post Office Road and B.R. Ambedkar Veedhi — is likely to end by June this year as road restoration work is in full swing by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL). The stations are part of the East-West underground corridor of Namma Metro Phase 1.
The BMRCL had excavated these roads to construct underground metro stations in front of Central College and Vidhana Soudha. The land was dug up for a length of 275 mts, width of 25 mts and depth of 18 mts to house the station boxes. With the completion of station boxes as well as tunnels passing through these stations, the Corporation has commenced restoration of the road surface.
A senior BMRCL official told The Hindu that work on building the sub-base for the roads is under progress at present, after which the base and surface would be laid. The roads would be built as they existed earlier — four-lane concrete surface in front of Vidhana Soudha and bitumen surface in front of Central College, the official said. The entire work is expected to be completed by May-June this year, he said.
Regarding landscaping in front of Vidhana Soudha and the High Court, the official said it would be carried out in consultation with the Horticulture Department. The lawns in front of both these buildings were razed to construct alternative roads. Due to partial closure of Ambdekar Veedhi, which used to be a thoroughfare connecting North and South Bangalore, commuters had to take lengthy detours to reach their destinations.
The reconstruction process involves filling the gap between the station box and the trench where quality soil is filled and compacted before checking whether it has achieved the desired density. The BMRCL is using quality soil for filling the gap while the excavated soil comprising rocky substances is not used for the process, the official said.
Though the BMRCL was expected to take just 24 months to construct the underground stations (from October 2009) and restore the roads, rocky strata near Central College and row over shifting of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar statue in front of Vidhana Soudha delayed the process.
