Bicycling enthusiasts in Bengaluru now have a new route they can take their ride on – Race Course Road. On January 30, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa inaugurated a new bicycle track on the Race Course Road.
Posting an update on the same, non-profit WRI India Ross Centre for Sustainable Cities said on its Facebook page, “WRI India is proud to have assisted Bangalore Smart City and Directorate of Urban Land Transport in designing and implementing roads that offer safe and comfortable infrastructure to Bengaluru's many cyclists.”
A Twitter user posted a video cycling on this new track, and described the experience, with trees lining the pavement, a “really pleasant ride.” Nihar Thakkar, who shared the video you can watch below, also posted pictures of the track coming up on Raj Bhavan Road, which will connect to the Race Course Road bicycling track.
Coming up next - cycle lane on Raj Bhavan Road! It will connect to the Race Course Road cycle lane at Basaveshwara Circle. pic.twitter.com/rmZMWrdm81
— Nihar Thakkar (@nihart1024) February 2, 2021
In October 2020, 30-kilometres worth of cycling lanes were announced in the Central Business District (CBD) area of Bengaluru in October last year as well, under the Smart Cities Mission. These lanes were touted to be two metres wide. In the same month, cycling tracks had opened up between Silk Board junction and Lowry Memorial College near KR Puram. These ‘pop up’ cycling lanes are ones that involve setting up semi-permanent barricades on existing infrastructure to make space for bicycle riders. Officials had told TNM then that the full 16-kilometre stretch of the pop-up cycling track would be ready by November 2021.
Apart from the lane on Race Course Road, WRI India has also collaborated with Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) to make the design for the cycling lane planned from Minsk Square and Raj Bhavan Road to Chalukya Circle.