BENGALURU: Hundreds of school-children commuting along the Varthur-Gunjur stretch of SH-35 endured a harrowing Thursday as severe traffic congestion delayed school buses by up to 40 minutes in the morning and left students stranded on roads for hours while returning home. A 4km drive took 2.5 hours, stuck mostly in traffic.The stretch hosts 18-20 big schools, with many conducting mid-term examinations. Parents told TOI children reached exam halls anxious after school buses arrived late at pickup points and were subsequently caught in gridlocked traffic.The evening commute was worse. Several students took up to 1.5 hours more to return home. Some schools accommodated affected students by providing extra time to complete exams.The Varthur-Gunjur stretch, part of SH-35, is undergoing infrastructure works being executed by Karnataka Road Development Corporation. However, residents say the corridor continues to be plagued by bottlenecks, damaged road surfaces, large craters and unmanaged traffic, making the daily commute unpredictable. Parents said Thursday’s situation highlighted how ongoing infrastructure issues were directly affecting schoolchildren.Priti Singh, a resident of Candor Landmark Apartments, said the biggest concern was that schools had exams. “It is unbelievable an area contributing significantly to the city’s economy continues to suffer from such poor infrastructure,” she added.Another resident, Pavitra Holla, said children were spending more time in traffic than in classrooms. “Today, some children took nearly 2.5 hours to cover just 4km from school. They are exhausted, parents are worried and there is no end in sight. There are no proper roads, heavy vehicles move during school hours, traffic management is absent and basic infrastructure is missing. Children are forced to sit in dust and traffic for hours,” she said. Holla added that while congestion has been a long-standing issue in the area, conditions have deteriorated in the past two weeks.For some parents, the situation left them with little choice but to abandon school buses and attempt the journey themselves.Swati Kumari, another resident of Candor Landmark, said she waited nearly 45 minutes for her son’s school bus before deciding to take him on a two-wheeler. “My son studies in a school less than 2km away from home. Though his school ends by 2.45pm, he’s been reaching home around 4.30pm in the past month. The scooter ride took me more than an hour to travel barely 1km,” she said.Calling the commute unsafe, Kumari said parents are increasingly worried about putting young children on two-wheelers given recent accidents and the condition of the road.