After Monday blooper, cops chalk out new plan for VIP Road

KOLKATA : From Wednesday night, cops will block the airport-bound flank on VIP Road to facilitate construction of two underpasses and allow vehicles to ply on the service road. They will churn out a lane from the city-bound flank to tackle traffic congestion. The decision comes in the wake of a 24-hour trial run that brought traffic to a grinding halt on Monday.
The arrangement will be effective only for a 500-metre stretch between the foot of Ultadanga flyover till the Sreeebhumi bus stand.

“We have noticed that airport-bound vehicular movement is lean from morning till afternoon. During this period, we will allow all city-bound vehicles to use all the five lanes of the Ultadanga-bound flank while the airport-bound traffic will be allowed to ply only on the two-lane service roads on the other flank. Post afternoon, we will churn out a lane from the city-bound flank by barricading it with guardrails and will channelise a portion of the airport-bound traffic to use it, along with the service road,” said Amit Javalgi, the deputy commissioner (headquarter) of Bidhannagar City Police.

To install the barricades, work on cutting the median divider at two places started on Tuesday evening. Along with these changes, cops have also put up banners on EM Bypass, asking airportbound vehicles to take the Salt Lake Bypass and Rajarhat Expressway to avoid traffic congestion in the Lake Town area.

On Monday, thousands of Kolkatans had a harrowing time after the Bidhannagar commissionerate had closed six of the 10 lanes of VIP Road between Sreebhumi Sporting and the Ultadanga flyover as an experimental measure to assess the pressure of vehicular traffic when a portion of VIP Road would be dug out to facilitate construction of the underpasses.

Officials of PWD, who are implementing the project, said it would take them around three months to complete the entire project. “Had we got the permission to block both the flanks, the work would have finished in one and a half months. But since we need to do the work in two phases, it would take us around three months,” said a senior PWD official.

The official added that piling work would begin from Wednesday night once they get the block offered by Bidhannagar Police. “During the piling work, we wouldn’t need to dig up the road. So, the cops will get some more time for a trial run to ensure smooth traffic movement. We will start excavating the road from early next week,” the official said.

Once work on the airportbound flank completes, the city-bound flank will be blocked. “At that time, we will replicate the current system on the other flank,” said Javalgi.