A proposal to construct a right arm of the AJC Bose Road flyover connecting Hospital Road in the Maidan area, for smooth movement of vehicles headed towards Red Road, got a boost after representatives from different agencies met on Wednesday to draw up a basic project plan.
A group of engineers from the PWD, KMDA, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC) and senior officers of Kolkata Police conducted a survey to identify the point from where the right arm would start on the AJC Bose Road flyover and the place where the arm would land on Hospital Road.
The HRBC maintains the AJC Bose Road flyover.
At present, Red Road-bound vehicles take a right turn towards Hospital Road.
“A preliminary survey for constructing the proposed flyover arm was discussed during the meeting with representatives of the agencies,” said a PWD engineer, who attended the meeting.
“It was decided that the respective agencies would draw up a detailed plan of the underground utilities on the proposed route between AJC Bose Road and Hospital Road. This layout plan would be vital to understand whether pillars can be built on the proposed alignment before the foundations for the piers are constructed.”
A police officer said the tentative alignment would involve the arm starting from a point over the AJC Bose Road-Cathedral Road intersection of the flyover and moving over Vivekananda Park (near the AJC Bose Road-DL Khan Road crossing) and landing on Hospital Road.
“It was decided during the meeting that once the layout plan of the underground utilities is ready, the representatives would meet and discuss the alignment with experts, including those from IIT Kharagpur who had drawn up a rough sketch of the proposed arm,” a senior officer said.
The police officer said: “Once the feasibility plan is discussed, the state government would have to seek clearance from the ministry of defence since a part of the Hospital Road is in the blue zone (under the army’s jurisdiction).”
Senior officials of the urban development department said a right arm of the AJC Bose Road flyover was proposed in 2018 when the ramp of the Parama flyover connecting it to the AJC Bose Road flyover was being built.
The police had argued that once the Parama was linked to the AJC Bose Road flyover, managing traffic would become a challenge over the years.
Senior officers of the police said that between 9am and noon, around 2,000 vehicles wait at the intersection of DL Khan Road and AJC Bose Road every day.
Out of these, about 70 per cent wait to move towards Red Road along Hospital Road. The rest take a U-turn towards Rabindra Sadan.
“The vehicle count on the AJC Bose Road flyover has been rising exponentially since it was linked to the Parama flyover. Without an extension, the vehicles waiting to take a right turn at the intersection would keep growing,” the officer said.