A detailed traffic management plan is being chalked out to avoid traffic snarls during the peak office hours following dismantling of the 57- year old Tallah Bridge, which is slated to begin in the first week of January.
Senior officials of PWD, transport department, Railways, Metro Railways, Kolkata Police and Barrackpore Police Commissionerate held a meeting recently wherein several routes were discussed for enabling hassle-free traffic flow.
According to officials, once the dismantling work begins vehicles heading towards Shyambazar along BT Road from the northern fringes of the city, namely Dunlop, Barrackpore and Sodepur are likely to face huge traffic snarls particularly during the peak morning and evening hours.
The Tallah Bridge has been closed for heavy vehicles, including buses, since 28 September following recommendation of the RITES and bridge construction expert V.K Raina who had opined that the condition of the bridge is beyond repair. Presently, the bridge is open for vehicles of less than three tonnes.
The state transport department is preparing separate traffic plans for north-bound and south-bound vehicles. Vehicles coming from Baranagar can avoid BT Road by opting for its parallel road ~ Gopal Lal Thakur Road ~ and reach Cossipore Road down Chitpore.
Next, vehicles from Sinthee More can reach Chiria More and then take Khagen Chatterjee Road and reach Cossipore Road to reach Bagbazar. Again, vehicles from Chiria More can take Dum Dum Road and then reach Belgachhia down Northern Avenue before reaching Shyambazar through the Belgachhia Bridge.
Vehicles coming from Sodepur and Barrackpore can take Sodepur Road to reach Jessore Road and then move towards the airport.
Else, such vehicles can reach Dunlop and then take the PWD Road and get access to Belghoria Expressway which will lead to Jessore Road and then airport.
This apart, a level crossing will be set up to connect Braja Dayal Shah Road with Sethpukur Road and Pranakrishna Mukherjee Road with traffic merging with BT Road closer to Shyambazar as an alternate route.
In fact, the level crossing will be similar to the one created across the railway tracks at Majerhat and will be used as a lorry corridor from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. During the rest of the day, it will be used by heavy vehicles, like buses, which are now banned on the bridge.
The Metro Railways have already decided to extend their services, currently running till Noapara, upto Baranagar by March 2020 to ease pressure on road transport.