Mangalore City Police & Councillors Spar Over Loop Movement of Vehicles on Clock Tower-A.B. Shetty Circle Stretch

Mangalore Mayor Sudheer Shetty Kannur chaired a traffic management meeting, on August 28, Wednesday during which Mangalore city councillors & city police spar over loop movement of vehicles on Clock Tower-A.B. Shetty Circle-Hamilton Circle-Rao and Rao Circle-Clock Tower circuit.

Mangalore councillors expressed the need to restore two-way vehicular movement between Clock Tower and A.B. Shetty Circle by abolishing the present loop movement of vehicles on the Clock Tower-A.B. Shetty Circle-Hamilton Circle-Rao and Rao Circle-Clock Tower circuit. Mangaladevi ward councillor Premanand Shetty said funds from the Smart City project were used to widen the road to have loop movement of vehicles. This loop movement has caused problem at Hamilton Circle where entry of vehicles from Bunder was allowed following protest. It has become difficult for pedestrians to cross the road from the RTO.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Traffic) B.P.Dinesh Kumar said loop movement was done after removing medians on the stretch and having wide pavements. The present carriageway will be too narrow to restore two-way traffic. Pavements have to be made narrow to allow two-way movement. Following loop movement, the city buses were now operating from the service bus stand and buses stop on the stretch between Clock Tower and A.B. Shetty Circle. “Buses need extra space. There will be problem allowing entry of vehicles coming from A.B. Shetty Circle towards railway station near the mini Vidhana Soudha. The city police have to consider all these issues.