ORR set for 11 months of traffic chaos as ₹450-crore facelift begins

Bengaluru’s busiest IT corridor will undergo an 11-month overhaul by B-SMILE, bringing partial road closures, longer travel times, and heavy pressure on commuters, even as authorities push public transport as the long-term solution.

Commuters using Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road (ORR) are bracing for nearly a year of severe congestion as the ₹450-crore “international standards” redevelopment project is set to begin. The project will be executed by B-SMILE, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which has planned an 11-month deadline for completion.

The work will be tendered in two separate packages. The first covers the Silk Board-Iblur Junction stretch at an estimated cost of ₹143 crore, while the second spans the Iblur Junction-K.R. Puram section, costing around ₹307 crore. Together, the project will revamp a 17.1-km stretch of one of the city’s most critical IT corridors.

B-SMILE plans to float tenders and complete the process within 40 days, with construction expected to begin in the first week of April. Initially, the project was scheduled to start in January and conclude by November, in sync with the opening of the Blue Line Metro. However, delays in Cabinet clearance forced a revision of the timeline.

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The upgrade includes high-quality road resurfacing, international-standard footpaths, dedicated cycle lanes, and a scientifically planned bus priority lane. While authorities describe it as a comprehensive mobility upgrade, urban planners have flagged concerns, calling it an expensive bet that may not immediately ease congestion.

Traffic disruption is expected to be severe due to partial road closures during construction. The ORR is designed to handle 4,800-5,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) but currently carries nearly double that volume-around 9,000-10,000 PCUs. With no parallel roads to divert traffic, congestion is already chronic.

Reduced road width during construction is expected to further lower capacity, potentially doubling travel time. Bottlenecks are likely to worsen at Kaadubeesanahalli, Marathahalli, and Iblur Junction, where traffic from Sarjapur Road converges. U-turns along the stretch are also expected to see intensified congestion.

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With no scope for diversions, traffic police see reducing vehicle volume as the only option. Discussions are planned with IT companies along the corridor to encourage work-from-home, staggered office timings, and hybrid work models.

Authorities maintain that the project’s core objective is to shift commuters toward public transport. The ORR currently carries an excess load of 5,000-6,000 PCUs. With the upcoming Metro line, about 1.5 lakh commuters are expected to use Namma Metro on this stretch. Bus priority lanes could move a few thousand more to buses, provided BMTC expands its fleet.