While the Bengaluru civic authority is dreaming of building a 16.7-km tunnel road, the 300-metre Wind Tunnel underpass on HAL Airport Road, planned 11 years ago, has not seen even one percent of work on the ground.
The Central City Corporation is keen on reviving and completing the Wind Tunnel Junction underpass. However, the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) has been rejecting permission to carry out works on the road, citing that it would paralyse at least five of the ten most notorious traffic stretches in Bengaluru.
Project history
In 2014, the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) issued a work order to RNS Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. to redevelop the 16.5-km stretch of HAL Airport Road between ASC Junction and Hope Farm Junction at a cost of ₹135.25 crore.
The project was planned to ensure a smooth commute for travellers and cater to the growing number of vehicles accessing the stretch. As part of the plan, the road was to be made signal-free, which required underpasses at Kundalahalli Junction, Suranjan Das Junction, and Wind Tunnel Junction. After repeated extensions of deadlines for the Kundalahalli and Suranjan Das underpasses, the civic body opened them in 2022 and 2023, respectively. However, the last of the three underpasses remains stalled.
Why is it important?
HAL Airport Road is a crucial link connecting Central and East Bengaluru. The alternative route is Old Madras Road. However, due to unprecedented development in the eastern outskirts, vehicle numbers have increased dramatically post 2015, according to the Traffic Police.
“We sometimes see peak hours extending for one hour in both mornings and evenings on HAL Airport Road and Old Madras Road. If we close even a small stretch of any of these roads, especially HAL Road, which houses many hospitals and connects to the Outer Ring Road, even the bylanes will be paralysed,” said a senior police officer from the east division.
According to documents accessed by The Hindu, the civic body has requested the BTP seven times in the last four years to allow closure of the stretch for construction. Each request was denied, as there is no suitable alternative route.
According to the BTP, even partial closure of the stretch would choke Indiranagar 100 Feet Road, 80 Feet Road, Suranjan Das Road, and Old Madras Road. All these roads witness slow-moving traffic during peak hours. Except for Suranjan Das Road, the remaining stretches also have traffic signals, which would further slow movement. The main reason, the BTP said, is that residents of Central and southeastern Bengaluru would be left with no alternative routes and would be forced to use these roads.
Despite these hurdles, the civic body and the BTP explored an alternative in the form of a road located inside a private property between southeastern and eastern Bengaluru, owned by a well-known political figure. However, the people’s representative reportedly refused to allow traffic through the property.
New plan
An official from the Central City Corporation told The Hindu that there is a road inside the NAL and ISRO campuses, which are adjoining and run parallel to the 300-metre stretch where the underpass is proposed. However, the stretch is very close to an ISRO owned structure which is considered “sensitive”.
Now, the civic body has outlined one more plan where the stretch inside NAL will be connected to another road inside ISRO campus, which will take a long deroute before connecting to the HAL Airport Road again. “We have held several rounds of meetings with them and have pinned all our hopes on their decision,” the official said.
The Hindu has learnt that the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner will also hold a joint inspection with ISRO and NAL officials and put forth the proposal.
The civic body has already completed 40% of the project in terms of casting work. To proceed further, the officials need to excavate the land, place the castings spanning 50 metres, and then build up and down ramps totalling 250 metres.
If the BTP agrees to a full closure of the stretch, the work can be completed in 90 days. If only partial closure is permitted, the project may take up to 195 days to complete, the civic officials said.
However, uncertainty continues to loom over the project as the BTP will refuse to permit construction until the civic body identifies a viable alternative route. Among the available options, none has worked out so far.
(This is the fifth in a multi-part series)
Published – December 18, 2025 09:26 pm IST
