Traffic brass redesign Phoolbagan road plans

KOLKATA: An inspection of the Phoolbagan crossing by the Kolkata traffic police top brass on Wednesday led to the Metro authorities and police finalizing the traffic circulation plan once the East-West Metro station is operational.
“The Phoolbagan crossing, which was shut for years owing to Metro work, has been reopened. This was possible owing to cooperation and support from the Police,” said a KMRC official.




As a first step to streamlining traffic on the stretch, the police finalized the signalling system in the presence of senior officers additional CP (I) Vineet Goel and DC (traffic) Sumit Kumar. “The new signals are being installed, keeping the future traffic requirements in mind. We will finish the work in a while,” said an officer. The proposed rejig comes after studying traffic movements over the past three days. A proposal was also placed to cut down on the pavement space on either side of the Phoolbagan Metro station entries to curve out more road space. “We expect an explosion of traffic here as this station will cater to those living at Beliaghata and Kankurgachhi. We have proposed a minimum road width on the Narkeldanga Main Road to which the Metro authorities have agreed. This may require reducing the pavements,” said an officer.

Among the other suggestions, additional CP Goel discussed how vehicles using the Narkeldanga Main Road (both from BC Roy Hospital side and the Hyatt Hotel side) can stop taking a detour at the crossing before being allowed to go straight. “For example, vehicles coming from the Hyatt side need to take a left turn, a U-turn on CIT Road and then take a left again to keep on the Narkeldanga Main Road. The additional CP suggested we might shift our consul box and let vehicles move straight in a semicircular pattern,” said a police officer.

The police have also decided to fix the auto stands of the five important routes criss-crossing the area. The Phoolbagan-Beliaghata route has been allotted a small parking lot further towards the Beliaghata-CIT Road crossing, the Phoolbagan-Karunamoyee (Salt Lake) route now has a permanent stand on Narkeldanga Main Road and the Phoolbagan-Ganesh Talkies autos have been asked to occupy a space towards Kankurgachhi. Autos to Sealdah and MG Road have been given space on Narkeldanga Main Road. “We told them to stop parking on both flanks,” said the police.

Traffic cops are also considering allowing vehicles from CIT Road to take a right onto Narkeldanga Main Road from the crossing. “No right turn is allowed now,” said a sergeant, adding after the rejig, this might be possible. Several traffic personnek will be deployed to guide motorists through the changes.