Bengaluru: A long weekend starting with Varamahalakshmi festival and intermittent spells of rain brought the city’s traffic network under strain Thursday evening, with Outer Ring Road (ORR) and central areas once again emerging as one of the worst-hit corridors.As office-goers began their journey home during peak hours, Google Maps showed long stretches painted red, indicating severe congestion across several key roads.Commuters said travel time on many stretches increased by at least 20-30% compared to normal weekday traffic, with some routes witnessing even longer delays. Outer Ring Road, already infamous for heavy traffic during rush hours, saw vehicles crawling bumper-to-bumper.Several commuters said they changed plans after seeing traffic conditions on navigation apps. While some delayed their journeys by a few hours to avoid being stuck on the road during rain, others chose to work from home or avoid non-essential travel altogether.The impact was visible across major IT corridors, including stretches connecting KR Pura, Marathahalli, Bellandur and Silk Board. Ride-hailing users also faced delays as cabs took longer to reach pick-up locations. Traffic police officials attributed the snarls to festive shopping rush, broken road infrastructure and rain.Dakshinya P, resident of Doddanekundi, said: “Insane traffic today. For 10km, it was showing more than one hour. I was booking a taxi for a friend who had to travel from Doddanekundi to Ramamurthy Nagar. On Google Maps, the stretch was showing red and I wasn’t sure if she could reach within an hour. She still chose to take a taxi because a bus would have taken more than three hours in this traffic.”Akash Math, an ORR commuter, said: “I travel from KR Pura to JP Nagar and pass through ORR every day. Usually, I leave office at 6pm, but today, after looking at the traffic situation, I didn’t want to risk it. I decided to leave only after 10pm. Instead of wasting time in traffic, I thought I’d stay back, finish my work and be productive.”Amaresh Lakshminarayana, a Bellandur resident, said: “I chose not to go out at all today. I faced ORR traffic during festive season many a time in the past. Expecting heavy congestion because of festivities and rain, I opted to work from home.”
