8/6/2019 Mantri Mall Traffic Decongestion Plan - Initial Draft

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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

8/6/2019 Mantri Mall Traffic Decongestion Plan - Initial Draft

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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

8/6/2019 Mantri Mall Traffic Decongestion Plan - Initial Draft

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THE CURRENT SITUATION

The below flow 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 on the image on the

right. The red arrows indicate the direction in

which traffic gets backed up from the choke

points

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BBMP PROPOSED SOLUTION

Widen the road in front from 45 feet to 60 feet for a stretch of 250

meters yeah! Thatsit!!! The small green stretch that doesnt

even address one of the 3 congestion point leave alone address the

other 2 properly

Thats the traffic dispersal strategy, thats the traffic reductionstrategy, in short, thats the magic bullet proposed. Clearly this is not

the answer

PROPOSED ALTERNATE DECONGESTION PLAN

Short term

Following diagram illustrates a short term routing measure to decongest the trouble spots identified.

In international experience a mall which discharges around

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

directions.

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Mall traffic should to be made to take lane 3 to the left of the bus stop island and has a signal (red

circles) shared with the north bound traffic from platform rd. Till the signals are installed the traffic police

can man the flow over the weekends.

Lane 2 is bus stop and holds a constant stream of buses which interrupt the cross over of traffic into the

mall from lane 1 now so it is important to get mall traffic away from lane 1.

Lanes 1 & 2 are straight thru traffic and need to go uninterrupted.

Lane 3 is possible only if traffic arrives from link road 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.

Lane 4 is the city station traffic.

1,2 & 4 are free flowing without signals. It may be better to physically barricade lanes 1 & 2 upto mill

corner junction so that there is no cutting across to the mall from people arriving on lane 1 by mistake

and people stay put in lane 3.

Right now the sirur park rd exit is very close to lane 1 & the traffic island so people going to lane 4 & 3have 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.

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 3 directly into their new complex parking, leaving the traffic around to

continue uninterrupted2. 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.

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

boards at link road nagappa road intersection to indicate parking availability. This will prevent

cars coming all the way to the mall to find out there is no parking space. Parking slot availability

information should also be provided via SMS & web.