Malleshwaram Mantri Mall Traffic Rerouting Plan

8/6/2019 Malleshwaram Mantri Mall Traffic Rerouting Plan

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This document provides a traffic re-routing plan so the congestion around the mantri square mall

may be minimized. This plan has both short term & long term suggestions.

Prepared by

TRAFFIC DECONGESTION PLAN

MANTRI SQUARE MALL, MALLESHWARAM


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OVERVIEW

BBMP is attempting to solve the traffic problems that plague Sampige

road near Mantri Square mall, by cutting down 36 huge, old trees &

widening the road in front of the mall till the junction of mill corner road

from the current 45 feet to 60 feet, including reduction of sidewalk

space in the region.

Work orders have been issued to begin this demolition & widening

without any public consultation with the citizens of Malleshwaram who

will be affected by this move.

The outcome of the work resulting from this destruction has not been

described, quantified or even thought through in a logical manner. The

ill effects of the destruction in the area far outweigh the benefits that it

is seen to accrue.

This document seeks to identify the reasons for congestion, suggest

less destructive alternatives both short term & long term by engineering

the smooth flow of traffic in the area.

The mall itself is1.7 million sq ft in area & has provision for 2000 cars. It

has over 250 outlets, 6 screen multiplex, Bangalores largest food court

with 1000 seats. All of this traffic is served by a mere 40 feet road on

one side of the mall.

TREES INCREASE

REVENUES

Customers traveled longer, farther,

and more often to tree-enhanced

shopping districts. They stayed

longer, and were willing to pay

more for both products and

parking.

Participants rated "Amenity and

Comfort" of tree-lined sidewalks

about 80% higher compared to

non-shaded streets. Also, "Quality

of Product" ratings were 30%

higher in districts having trees, and

customer service was considered

better on these streets.

Merchants also showed a general

preference for trees, but they

consistently underestimated the

effect of trees on customer

behavior and buying decisions.

Source: streetswiki.wikispaces.com


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THE CURRENT SITUATION

Figure 1 indicates the traffic flow around the mall (white area marked as point A). Green arrows indicate

traffic coming into the area, Blue arrows are traffic going away from it.

One can notice from the above diagram

1. Of the 4 sides all traffic use only the

east side of the mall.

2. There is only 1 entry & exit to the mall

accepting & discharging all the traffic

3. Traffic from all directions have to use

Nagappa road & Platform road only to enter &

exit on Sampige road only

The above traffic scheme causes the 3

congestions numbered in Figure 2. The red

arrows indicate the direction in which traffic

gets backed up from the choke points

FIGURE 1

FIGURE 2


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BBMP PROPOSED SOLUTION

Widening the road in front of the mall from 45 feet to 60 feet for a

stretch of 100 meters doesnt even address one of the 3 congestion

point leave alone address the other 2 properly (see Figure 3)

Clearly a lane doesnt make the merge issues at the spots marked to

go away. Also adding a lane for the mall doesnt require any trees togo as they do not contribute to the problem.

PROPOSED ALTERNATE DECONGESTION PLAN

Short term

Figure 4 illustrates a short term routing measure to decongest the trouble spots identified.

FIGURE 4

In international experience a mall which discharges around

3000 cars per hour should have 4 exits in different directions.

FIGURE 3


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Lane 1 Non Mall traffic towards Malleshwaram Circle

Lane 2 Mall Traffic only

Lane 3 Towards Majestic

Lane 4 Mall & Non mall traffic from Majestic towards Malleshwaram Circle

The Key feature of this traffic decongestion is the need to create a

mall traffic lane (Lane 4 & Lane 2). Mall traffic coming from Nagappa

road should to be made to take Lane 2 to the left of the bus stop

island and has a traffic light signal. It must be marked mall traffic only. It can also take non mall traffic

headed towards mill corner

Lane 1 also accommodates the existing bus stop as a bus bay lane with a merge back into lane 1. On

Sampige rd only one lane will continue towards malleshwaram circle. This bus stop holds a constant

stream of buses which interrupt the cross over of traffic into the mall from lane 1 so it is important to get

mall traffic coming from sirur park road away from lane 1. This can only be done with sirur park road

closure.

Lane 4 is the city station traffic. It can be sub divided into a further Mall only lane on the left most edge

which will go into the mall entrance. Lane 2 will merge into this lane on signal. Lane 4 & Lane 2 will

have a traffic light signal

Lanes 1 & 3 are free flowing without signals. It is recommended to physically separate lanes 1 & 4 on

sampige road upto mill corner junction so that there is no cutting across to the mall from people arriving

on lane 1 from Seshadripuram side and people stay in lane 2. This physical barrier is indicated by the

uninterrupted white line in the picture

Lane 2 is possible only if traffic arrives from linkroad and is segregated properly ahead of time.

Else at last minute, people will be on the wrong

side and cause chaos to 1 & 2 traffic.. Right

now the sirur park rd exit is very close to lane 1

& the traffic island so people going to lane 4 & 3

have to push their way bringing traffic to

complete halt. So Sirur park road exit to

Nagappa road must be closed. Vehicles

already on sirur park rd should take 2 main &

join link road.

In the medium term a new mall dedicated road that is planned towards the SWR end should be

expedited & should contain additional entry & exit to the mall parking. Care should be taken to ensure

that this road disperses traffic away from sampige road ie towards majestic & towards mill corner/11th

main

FIGURE 5


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Long term

1. Mitigation strategy: Over the long run if

an underpass is built at the mall entrance

to sirur park road, mall bound traffic can

take Lane 1 on nagappa road, turn right

on to sirur park and left at the dedicated

road into the mall. This will free up Lane 3

in which case the mall management may

want to build entrance for their new

buildings in such a way that they can put

another box/overpass for Lane 2 directly

into their new complex parking, leaving

the traffic around to continue uninterrupted

2. Dispersal strategy: Measure the number PCUs entering & leaving the mall during peak hours

and the directions they are headed & make more entrances & exits to disperse the traffic in

different directions. The additional road to take away some traffic from Sampige road side must

be used to create additional entries & exits.

3. Reduction strategy: Provide parking slot availability informationin the form of LED display

boards at locations like link road nagappa road intersection to indicate parking availability. This

is important because for a mall with 1.7 million sqft there should be atleast 7000 parking slots

provided but since lower parking will encourage less vehicles information dissemination on

availability sortage is importantfor people to prepare. This will prevent cars coming all the way to

the mall to find out there is no parking space. The mall traffic also affects nonmall traffic and

hence traffic reduction strategies gain importance. Parking slot availability information should

also be provided via SMS & web. Options like bus/train ticket validation should be explored by

mall authorities to encourage public transport. Bicycle stands should also be provided

prominently to encourage bicycling. This will only make the mall management & owner a better

corporate citizen.

Documents

Malleshwaram Mantri Mall Traffic Rerouting Plan