The state public works department (PWD) will widen and maintain BT Road from Sodepur intersection to Chiria More from 26 December to combat traffic congestion along the thoroughfare. Earlier, a section on the road from Barrackpore to Sodepur had been widened and maintained.
The estimated cost of widening of the road along with its maintenance will be around Rs 26 crore. A senior official of the department said the stretch between Sodepur and Chiria More will be widened by 4 meters on either side. The black top will be upgraded. He added the widening of the road became necessary because of the regular traffic bottleneck.
Because of widening of the stretch between Barrackpore and Sodepur, traffic jams have been reduced greatly. A high-level meeting was held between senior police officials of North 24-Parganas and PWD officials to combat traffic snarl ups and the former suggested widening BT Road will be the only solution. The railings will be replaced by boulevards and shrubs will be planted on them as a part of beautification.
BT Road is the oldest road connecting north Kolkata with northern suburbs. The road was constructed to facilitate the governor generals to go to Barrackpore particularly during summer.