In an election bonanza for Calcuttans, the civic body and various government agencies, including the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC) and public works department (PWD), will take up several road improvement projects in the city.

This is in addition to the ongoing Rs 75-crore tram track repair project across Calcutta.

Topping the repair roster is the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC), with a Rs 46-crore initiative covering 50 roads in the city. The PWD and HRBC will invest Rs 18 crore and Rs 4.5 crore, respectively.

The CMC to-do list includes mastic asphalt cover for Cossipore Road, Southern Avenue, Prince Anwar Shah Road, Belvedere Road, Raja Manindra Road, CIT Road (Ultadanga), Chittaranjan Avenue, AJC Bose Road, Gariahat Road (South), Raja SC Mullick Road, CIT Road (Phoolbagan), Maniktala Main Road, AJC Bose Road, Vivekananda Road and Amherst Street.

?We?re undertaking about 450 repair jobs across Calcutta, which will conclude before the Pujas, with a break during monsoon. About 20 per cent of Calcutta?s road surface will be covered under the projects. In addition to patchwork on potholes, about 50 major arteries will be overhauled,? said a senior CMC official.

The restoration rush, he maintained, had nothing to do with the approaching elections.

The HRBC is undertaking a Rs 3.5-crore project to widen Grand Foreshore Road to four lanes. Work on the 1.7-km stretch from Howrah station to Vidyasagar Setu will be completed in four months, a senior transport department official stated on Sunday.

Also on the HRBC radar is the widening and improvement of the link road between Jessore Road and Lake Town, in transport minister Subhas Chakraborty?s Belgachhia (East) constituency.

?A section of the footpath here will be demolished to widen the road. We will top it with mastic asphalt,? said an official. The road is under the PWD, but the HRBC will carry out the widening after seeking permission from the former.

The PWD is set to take up a Rs 17-crore project to widen BT Road from the Dunlop intersection to Sodepur to six lanes. Once completed, the lanes will be marked, footpaths created and guard rails installed.

Four crossings in the 5.5-km stretch will be paved with mastic asphalt and will be given signalling systems, said officials of the department.

?The project was sanctioned long before the election dates were announced,? an official offered.

The PWD is currently putting finishing touches to Tallah bridge, where a Rs 22-lakh surface improvement project has just concluded. While the bridge surface has been paved with mastic, the approach roads have received bitumen cover.

Also on the anvil are 10 bus bays and bus, taxi and truck stands, to be built by the PWD between Tallah bridge and Dunlop rail bridge.