Hyderabad drops 14-flyover KBR Park plan, moves to single flyover proposal

The Telangana government has scrapped the KBR Park corridor plan involving 14 flyovers and underpasses, almost two years after the infrastructure project was sanctioned.

The project, estimated to cost around Rs 1,100 crore, was planned to ease congestion along the KBR Park-IT corridor and make the stretch largely signal-free.

Senior officers told the Times of India that the decision followed the introduction of a one-way traffic system around KBR Park about a month ago.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is now planning a single flyover on the stretch, although its location has not yet been finalised.

“GHMC will now work on a fresh proposal. We are currently working on new alignments, cost estimates and identifying the stretch that requires a flyover,” a senior officer in the municipal administration and urban development department said.

The one-way system was introduced around the KBR Park area to address traffic movement along the Banjara Hills-Jubilee Hills stretch.

The government’s decision means the earlier plan involving 14 flyovers and underpasses will no longer be taken forward in its sanctioned form.

A fresh proposal is being prepared after officials assessed the traffic movement following the one-way arrangement.

The new proposal will involve fresh alignments and cost estimates, with GHMC yet to identify the location of the flyover.

The original project had also faced objections from environmental activists under the Save KBR campaign over its potential impact on KBR Park.

Traffic experts have cautioned against treating the initial results of the one-way arrangement as a permanent solution without studying its longer-term impact.

“Bengaluru is facing traffic problems after implementing one-way arrangements on several stretches. Officials must see this as a permanent solution only after studying it for a while,” Vinod Kanumala, founder of Indian Federation of Road Safety, said.

Retired Central Road Research Institute scientist T Satyanarayana Reddy said traffic diversion could shift congestion to adjoining roads and junctions.

“Diverting traffic through a one-way system could simply move congestion to adjoining roads and junctions. Rather than taking a decision based solely on traffic movement on the main corridor, authorities must conduct a comprehensive study of all roads and junctions feeding into and carrying traffic away from KBR Park before finalising the new plan,” he said.

GHMC is now working on the revised proposal while the location, alignment and cost of the proposed single flyover are yet to be finalised.