Police officers managing school-hour traffic around Loudon Street and adjoining areas in the central business district have sent a proposal to Vineet Kumar Goyal, the commissioner of Kolkata police, that the timing for reversing the flow of traffic along Shakespeare Sarani be tweaked.
Instead of the change over at 1pm, it should be extended till 3pm, the south and east traffic guards of Kolkata police have requested Goyal. This would help in easy draining out of cars that converge in the area dotted with schools skirting Rawdon Street, Loudon Street, Camac Street and Moira Street.
The proposal with a detailed sketch of how the flow of vehicles would change once the timing for reversing the traffic flow is tweaked was sent recently. Senior officers said they were planning a trial with the new timings very soon.
“We have seen that the draining out of school vehicles, mostly cars, from this pocket continues till 2.15pm, over an hour after the traffic flow is reversed along Shakespeare Sarani and its adjoining thoroughfares,” said a senior police officer.
“If the switch over towards JL Nehru Road is done at 3pm, it would become easier for the cars to move out after schools get over and the zone around Minto Park would have less traffic snarls,” he said.
In sync with Shakespeare Sarani’s changeover timing, officers have outlined in the proposal that the traffic along Hungerford Street and Loudon Street will also be extended till 3pm and Camac Street will remain Park Street-bound for the same period instead of switching over at 1pm. Even Sarat Bose Road will be a part of the plan with the traffic flowing towards AJC Bose Road after 3pm, the proposal has mentioned.
Some of the advantages of the proposed tweaking of reversal timing that have been pointed out include:
- Cars picking up students from schools in the area would have two exit routes towards AJC Bose Road — Loudon Street and Hungerford Street. As of now cars have to take Loudon Street to reach AJC Bose Road.
- Minto Park will be less congested because vehicles headed for AJC Bose Road along Sarat Bose Road will be diverted down Elgin Road and Camac Street.
- With Minto Park not crowded with vehicles reaching from Sarat Bose Road till 3pm, all school cars will be able to move out faster along AJC Bose Road.
“To assess the impact, we need a day with less traffic load conduct a trial,” said a senior officer in Lalbazar.
“There have been discussions on the change. But no concrete decision has yet been taken,” said Pandey Santosh, joint police commissioner managing city’s traffic movement.