State of Under Construction Road Works in Bengaluru – 2025
February 19, 2025 Vaidya R
A week back, OpenCity conducted a survey to crowd-source all the under construction road projects in Bengaluru. The goal was to first see how many such projects are lying around in the city and then situate them against the current frenzy for tunnel roads and elevated corridors across the city. A body with a poor record on completing road projects is not going to have much success in completing similar projects that it plans to take up now.
The survey threw up 20+ such projects. While most are flyovers, underpasses and railway bridges that have been waiting to see the light of the day for years, there were some curious ones where pillars were left on the side even though the planned bridge was completed. In one case an existing railway bridge was brought down with no sign of the promised new one.
List of projects
| Sl No. | Project Name | Description | Started | Planned Duration |
| 1 | Ullal/University Quarters Underpass | Underpass abandoned after shifting a temple and digging up one side of the road next to University Staff Quarters. | March 2021 | 2 years |
| 2 | Annapoorneshwarinagar/Nagarabhavi BDA Complex Underpass | Underpass abandoned after digging up area acquired from Nagarbhavi BDA complex as well as KLE Institutions. Many trees were chopped for this. | March 2021 | 2 years |
| 3 | Peenya Underpass | Underpass abandoned after finishing one half of it on Peenya side. | 2016 | None given. |
| 4 | Ejipura Flyover | Flyover languishing since many years, now repeated tendering is happening and the latest deadline is December 2025. | 2017 | 30 months |
| 5 | Dommasandra Flyover | Pillars constructed and left with no sign of completion. Residents and commuters now left in the lurch. | September 2020 | Not given |
| 6 | Katamnallur Gate Flyover | This is technically an NHAI project but has become a major bottleneck. | November 2023 | 1 year |
| 7 | Yelahanka Doddaballapur Road Flyover | Pillars constructed and little else happening. Completion set for 2026 now. | January 2022 | 18 months |
| 8 | Hebbal Flyover Ramp | Multiple deadlines have come and gone for the ramp from KR Puram side to the city. Has become a scene of regular bottlenecks. | April 2024 | 8 months |
| 9 | Kerekodi/Veerabhadranagar Flyover | One ramp pending for more than a year while work has completely stopped. 4 pillars, 3 spans and one ramp done. Congestion has increased due to this construction. | August 2020 | 15 months |
| 10 | Jakkur Railway Overpass | Been in the works for many years now. Might see the light of the day this year. | 2012 | 1-2 years |
| 11 | Central Silkboard Double decker flyover | The Flyover, combined with Metro work – yellow, followed by blue line is going on for a decade, and no sign of completion. While the part from Jayanagar to HSR is done, the other side is taking a long time. | 2021 | 1 year |
| 12 | Yelahanka Railway Underbridge | This is a much pending work to build an underbridge under the Yelahanka Railway Station to join Old town and new town. | February 2021 | None given. |
| 13 | Panathur S-Cross Underpass | In the news for many years, residents even staged a protest. Pace continues to be slow and congestion is common. | October 2020 | None given |
| 14 | Carmelaram ROB | Railway Overbridge needed for a railway gate. Took a long time to start, is stuck again with land acquisition issues. | 2023 | 18 months |
| 15 | CDP Road 150 ft | Widening of the road to New Horizon. Progressing at a slow pace, has almost stopped now despite promises of fast-tracking. | Not clear. | |
| 16 | Pipeline Road bridge | Underpass under the flyover is done, but a bridge across the Vrishabhavathi was promised for connectivity to the entire pipeline road, which is pending for years. | 2020 | Not given |
| 17 | Pipeline road underpass | Expected to connect Pipeline road to ORR across a busy junction. Dug up and left. This was part of the underpasses taken up with Ullal and Annapoorneshwarinagar in RR Nagar constituency and abandoned together. | March 2021 | 2 years |
| 18 | Varthur road circle flyover. | Pillars constructed and abandoned. Nobody knows why it was planned in the first place. | 2023 | 18 months |
| 19 | Rajarajeshwari Nagar Arch Flyover | Pillars under the Arch are done, and abandoned after that. Has now become a major bottleneck. | 2022 | 2 years |
| 20 | ISRO-Wind Tunnel | Service Road done and then left. Nobody can use the service road either. No sign of actual underpass for many years. | Not started | |
| 21 | Vijayanagar Railway overbridge | Existing bridge was destroyed without a clear reason. Approval from Railways is now awaited to start the construction again. This was a major road to connect Goripalya towards Vijayanagar. Construction is stalled for more than 3 years, with no sign of progress. People have to take longer routes due to this. | June 2023 | No deadline given |
With twenty one projects languishing with no signs of completion, it is not hard to guess what would be the state of the current tunnel roads or elevated corridors after five years.
The Government of Karnataka spoke about new projects with Rs. 1 Lakh Crore being earmarked in Bengaluru with the largest chunk going to the Tunnel Roads. As a recent article pointed out there are already large holes in the planning that has gone into the tunnel roads project which portends the eventual fate of the project.
Finishing the long list of pending projects can relieve a lot of congestion in the city. But then the vision of the planners needs to be to fix congestion and not just build new infrastructure. The former will require planning, in the form of empowering the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA), having a working Master Plan, an elected Urban Local Body among other such simple measures. The latter, only lots of money to “start” such projects.
The locations of these projects can be viewed on the map below.
