Kolkata: Travelling up and down the arterial Shakespeare Sarani will turn into a nightmarish experience once two projects — a flyover across the Mullickbazar intersection and a ramp for Sealdah-bound traffic leading away from the AJC Bose Road flyover — are completed. The state government has cleared both projects.

Both projects will ensure a smooth passage for traffic up to the Shakespeare Sarani-AJC Bose Road intersection. That’s exactly where the trouble begins for Shakespeare Sarani, which already handles a heavy load of traffic. Since vehicles will reach the crossing faster, the jams there will be longer and — and more excruciating.

Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority will build the Rs 40-crore twoway flyover at Mullickbazar with funds from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission scheme. The oneway ramp of the AJC Bose Road flyover will be constructed by Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners with funds earned from toll tax on Vidyasagar Setu. It will cost about Rs 14 crore. The ramp will rise from a spot close to the Shakespeare Sarani-AJC Bose Road crossing.

Transport experts say that both projects are marked by ad-hocism and shortsightedness. It would choke Shakespeare Sarani — a vital east-west corridor of the city — forever.

A more rational plan mooted by the transport department to solve the traffic chaos on this busy stretch was shot down as there is a paucity of funds. That plan had envisaged that the ramp from the AJC Bose Road flyover would end beyond the Mallickbazar crossing. There would also be another two-way flyover over Mullickbazar and the AJC Bose Road-Shakespeare Sarani crossing. Both projects would have helped vehicles to and from Sealdah zoom over the chaotic zone below.

On the other hand, the plan that has approved would create a bottleneck at the Shakespeare Sarani-AJC Bose Road crossing. “That is why it is prudent not to have the flyover and the ramp as planned. It may cost a little less but the road would be crippled,” said a senior engineer.

Two other planned ramps — one for AJC Bose flyover and the other for the Park Street flyover — were not discussed at the planning meeting.

The one-way ramp for AJC Bose Road from Sarat Bose Road would facilitate the passage of vehicles from the south to Dalhousie and the western parts of the city and Howrah. Similarly, a ramp of the Park Street flyover to Mayo Road would provide vehicles from south Kolkata with easy access to Dalhousie. On The Anvil 1 Ramp from AJC Bose Road flyover up to Shakespeare Sarani crossing COST: Rs 14 crore Executors: Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners 2 Flyover across the Mullickbazar intersection COST: Rs 40 crore (JNURM funds) Executors: Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.

Source: TOI(Kolkata-epaper)

Entry Filed under: Kolkata Traffic News