The Bengaluru–Mysuru highway saw kilometre-long vehicle queues at two toll plazas on Saturday as the Gauri-Ganesha festival coincided with the weekend, delaying travellers heading towards Mysuru for hours. The congestion was reported at the Kaniminike toll plaza in Bengaluru South taluk and the Sheshagirihalli toll plaza in Ramanagara taluk, where vehicles were seen waiting from the morning.
According to a report by Prajavani, traffic volume was particularly high on the Mysuru-bound side of the highway. Vehicles had lined up for about a kilometre at both toll locations, with travellers who had started early in the day forced to wait before crossing the plazas.
Both toll plazas operate with FASTag facilities and have seven to eight toll gates, but the available lanes were unable to prevent delays as the number of vehicles increased sharply during the holiday period. The congestion was concentrated around the toll facilities, slowing movement on one of the principal road links between Bengaluru and Mysuru.
The increase in traffic came as the festival holiday was combined with the weekend, encouraging more people to travel between Bengaluru and Mysuru. The highway also sees recurring pressure during major holiday periods, according to a traveller quoted in the report.
“We are stuck at the toll plaza even when we plan to leave early and reach our destination quickly,” traveller Avinash, who was travelling by car towards Mysuru, was quoted as saying. He said congestion at the toll plazas was a recurring problem when festivals and weekends coincide, and also during the Dasara period.
The traveller also pointed to the limited availability of a continuous service road alongside the highway. He said motorists seeking to avoid the toll plazas could not use a parallel service route for the full journey because such a road has not been built along the entire highway. In several locations, vehicles would have to pass through nearby towns or urban areas to avoid the main toll road.
That gap leaves motorists with limited alternatives when traffic builds up at the toll points. While local roads may provide access around some stretches, the absence of a continuous service road means they cannot function as a reliable parallel route for all travellers, according to the account cited in the report.
The congestion highlights the operational pressure that holiday surges place on a tolled highway even when electronic payment systems and multiple gates are available. In this instance, the report attributed the delays to the unusually high number of vehicles travelling towards Mysuru during the festival and weekend period. The report did not mention any traffic diversion, additional lane arrangement or official response from the highway or toll-plaza authorities.
