Bengaluru: For residents of Varthur and Gunjur, catching a flight no longer begins at the airport. It starts hours earlier—sometimes as much as five hours before departure—on the traffic-choked roads leading out of East Bengaluru.A family from Gunjur learnt this the hard way when they left home at 3pm for a 7pm flight to Visakhapatnam, confident that four hours would be more than enough to reach Kempegowda International Airport. Instead, they found themselves stuck in a crawling traffic jam on the SH-35 Varthur-Gunjur stretch, missed their flight and had to shell out another Rs 18,000 for tickets the following day.The experience has now become a rallying point for residents along the Varthur-Gunjur corridor, who have written to chief minister DK Shivakumar and Bengaluru development minister Krishna Byre Gowda, seeking urgent intervention.“We are fed up with complaining about the pathetic condition of the Varthur-Gunjur-Kadugodi stretch to our local MLA Manjula Limbavalli and her husband, Arvind Limbavali. We have been suffering for years. We hope Shivakumar and Krishna Byre Gowda will make it easier for our children to access the airport,” said Narayanappa, a Dalit activist and Varthur resident.Residents say the problem has become so unpredictable that many families now plan airport journeys as if they were long-distance road trips. For domestic flights, they leave home several hours in advance, while international passengers often build an even larger buffer into their schedules.The airport may be only 35-40 km away, but the distance tells little about the actual journey time. On SH-35, commuters can spend more than an hour covering just a few kilometres, as narrow roads, damaged surfaces, heavy traffic and bottlenecks turn the corridor into a daily choke point.What worries residents most is that there is no longer a reliable “peak hour”. Traffic builds through large parts of the day, making journey times increasingly unpredictable. For those heading to the airport, even leaving home hours in advance offers no guarantee of reaching the terminal on time.For residents, the road has effectively turned travel time into a guessing game. A journey that should take an hour can suddenly stretch into several, forcing people to sacrifice sleep, work and family time simply to ensure they reach the airport in time for their flights.Their representation to the govt seeks immediate repairs and measures to ease congestion, even as larger infrastructure projects, including proposed elevated corridors, remain pending.QuotesPrashanth, a resident of GunjurMy family was travelling to Visakhapatnam, and our flight was scheduled for 7pm. We left Gunjur at 3pm, thinking four hours would be more than enough. But it took us nearly two hours to cover just four kilometres between Gunjur and Varthur Kodi. By the time we reached the airport, check-in had closed. Missing a flight because of traffic is something we never imagined would happenAbhijit Mahanta, Gunjur residentWe don’t even feel like stepping out of our homes anymore. I think this is the only place in Bengaluru where traffic exists throughout the day. By the time we return from work, we are exhausted. We are losing family time and time to relax. Recently, one of our family members had a 6pm flight, and we left home at 10am, despite the airport being just 35-40 km away. If it is an international flight, we don’t even take chances. What does it say about our roads when people have to spend more than six hours travelling simply to make sure they don’t miss a flight?A residentAnticipating traffic, I left four hours early for my flight to Mumbai. Even then, it took me more than one-and-a-half hours to cover less than five kilometres. With every minute in the cab, my anxiety grew as the estimated arrival time kept getting pushed further. I managed to make the flight only because I was travelling alone and had already completed web check-in. Had I been travelling with family or carrying more luggage, I would certainly have missed the flight.Subhransu Mohapatra another resdient from VarthurRecently, I was travelling to my hometown and my flight was at 11.40am, with boarding scheduled for 11.15am. I left home at 8.20am, but it took nearly one-and-a-half hours to cover just two kilometres near Varthur Police Station. The rest of the journey was smooth, but I reached the airport barely 15 minutes before the gate closed. I had to park my car and run to the terminal. Thankfully, DigiYatra saved me from the queue, and I managed to board as the last passenger. The entire journey was nerve-racking, despite leaving nearly three hours before boarding
