Commuters who regularly use central Bengaluru’s J.C. Road can expect a more dreadful travelling experience as Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) prepares to begin milling works by partially closing the 1.5-km stretch for traffic.
Preliminary preparations for white-topping are nearing completion, while the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board’s (BWSSB) storm-water drain works are still in progress. Within a week, the BBMP will start milling (removing the existing concrete), restricting vehicular movement to half, a BBMP official overseeing the project told The Hindu.
Even before this phase begins, traffic on the stretch has slowed to a crawl during peak hours. The 1.3-km route from Minerva Circle to Town Hall Junction, normally covered in six to ten minutes depending on congestion on connecting roads, now takes at least 15 minutes for two-wheelers and 20 minutes for other vehicles.
Motorists taking J.C. Road encounter thick clouds of dust, heavy machinery at work, heaps of excavated mud, and unrelenting honking. With the monsoon intensifying, the road on either side has turned to slush, further narrowing the usable road space.
“All commuters, especially in the mornings while heading to work, are on edge, and the smallest trigger can lead to unpleasant exchanges. It is rare to travel on this road and not witness a quarrel,” said Prakash Mane, a resident of Basavanagudi, who compared driving on the stretch to “walking on eggshells.”
A senior traffic police officer described J.C. Road as one of Bengaluru’s busiest and most critical link roads. Any alteration to traffic flow here inevitably disrupts traffic on surrounding arterial roads.
The stretch serves as a key route for officegoers from southern and southeastern Bengaluru heading to central areas such as Majestic and Chamarajpet, and further north. It is also an alternative route for commuters from southwestern neighbourhoods like Rajarajeshwari Nagar who travel to the city centre.
Once partially closed, Kengal Hanumanthaiah (K.H.) Road, which runs parallel to J.C. Road, is expected to bear the brunt of diverted traffic, particularly from commuters heading towards Majestic from the NIMHANS area. This could turn K.H. Circle into a choke point, with spillover congestion likely on Siddapura Road, Marigowda Road, and Siddaiah Road.
Despite the stretch’s significance, the BBMP has already missed earlier deadlines. Initially slated for completion by March-end, the project was pushed to May-end to avoid leaving work half-finished during the monsoon. Scheduled to begin in December 2024, it only started in February. Since then, both the BBMP and BWSSB have changed executive engineers overseeing the work.
The BBMP official acknowledged the delay, partly attributing it to an unexpected obstacle. “On the left side of the road heading towards Town Hall, we encountered a massive hard rock while digging. The rock extended for about 200 metres, and breaking it was a major challenge,” he said, also citing ongoing traffic and other civic works for the delay.
The current deadline for completion is December, though with the monsoon worsening, this appears difficult . However, the BBMP maintains it can finish J.C. Road’s makeover within the timeframe.
White-topping J.C. Road is part of a package of five projects in the vicinity, including roads in N.R. Colony, Basavanagudi, and K.H. Road. The traffic police have not approved work on K.H. Road, citing its potential to severely disrupt traffic in the area if taken up simultaneously with J.C. Road.
The package involves full road overhauls, with new storm-water drains, ducts for BWSSB and BESCOM, light poles, and white-topped surfaces. The BBMP’s target for completing all five projects is March 2026, but with no work yet on K.H. Road that deadline also appears unrealistic.
Traffic police have urged commuters to use public transport as much as possible to avoid worsening congestion during the work.
Published – August 15, 2025 09:12 pm IST
