Short tunnel: Cost and alignment concerns lead BDA back to original plan

BDA reverts to original tunnel plan, redesigning Mehkri Circle as a roundabout to ease north Bengaluru traffic congestion.

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), which had been examining modifications to the proposed 2.2-km short tunnel road from Hebbal junction to the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (KVAFSU), has decided to proceed with the original Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by the Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (BSMILE), a special purpose vehicle set up by the State government to fast-track major infrastructure projects in the city.

Tenders for the project have already been floated, officials said.

As part of the plan, Mehkri Circle will be redesigned as a “roundabout” with dedicated ramps for vehicles heading towards Yeshwantpur and Jayamahal Road. The junction redesign is intended to help manage traffic emerging from the tunnel and ease congestion at one of north Bengaluru’s busiest intersections.

Earlier, the officials had explored a more integrated tunnel-plus-elevated corridor design for the Hebbal-Mehkri Circle stretch. Under that proposal, vehicles exiting the 2.2-km tunnel would have merged onto a 1.2-km elevated road leading up to the Mehkri Circle. The elevated section was meant to allow motorists to bypass surface-level bottlenecks and access arterial roads such as Jayamahal Road and C.V. Raman Road through ramps, thereby dispersing traffic across multiple routes instead of directing it back onto the already congested Ballari Road.

The combined underground and elevated design was aimed at ensuring uninterrupted movement for airport-bound and city-bound traffic.

However, the broader elevated plan substantially increased the project’s complexity and cost. This led to a rethink within the government, with concerns raised over feasibility, expenditure, and how the intervention would align with the city’s larger mobility planning goals, the officials from the BDA confirmed.