Part of Bengaluru’s pop-up cycle lane in ORR opens for cyclists

To the joy of cyclists in Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road area, parts of the proposed pop-up cycle lane between Silk Board junction and Lowry Memorial College near KR Puram are open. ‘Pop up’ cycle lanes are a quick infrastructure intervention that involves setting up semi-permanent barricades to make space for cyclists. Cities across the world have been building them since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The cycle lane makes riding so stress-free! pic.twitter.com/sLA3hg2kB8

— Nihar Thakkar (@nihart1024) October 6, 2020

Officials say that the full work of the 16 kilometre-long pop-up cycle lane will be ready by the end of November. “We have already finished 3 km from KR Puram side, and we will quickly finish up the work as setting up the barricades is the only work left. All the other time-consuming work, including as marking and the road undulations, have been done,” an official working in the project told TNM.

Pop-up cycle lanes are set up to encourage more people to use bicycles to commute and reduce motorised vehicle usage. As more people take to cycling, the pop-up cycling lanes can be converted into permanent lanes. This comes at a time when many are scared to use public transport, given the risks of disease transmission.

In order to make safe space for cyclists in Bengaluru, the city authorities will be setting up pop-up cycle lanes in other parts of the city as well. 

These pop-up cycle lanes are in addition to those being set up as part of the Smart Cities project in Central Business District areas. While the Directorate of Urban Land Transport or DULT (a government department under the Urban Development Department) is designing the lanes, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is executing the project.

“Parts of the stretch will not have barricades due to the ongoing metro work. Some of the work may get delayed due to other on-going works by the BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) and we are reviewing the design at some places,” V Manjula, Commissioner, DULT, told TNM.

At the same time, work is underway to finish setting up bus lanes for the entire Silk Board to KR Puram stretch of the Outer Ring Road (ORR). The bus lanes are also designed by DULT and executed by the BBMP.

DULT is also holding a Sustainable Mobility Accords (SUMA) through which 10 shortlisted resident welfare associations (RWAs) or civil society organisations will be given up to Rs 50 lakh to start novel non-motorised mobility initiatives. The deadline for SUMA is October 15.