Vidyasagar Setu will remain shut to traffic from 5am to 1pm on Sunday for the replacement of the cables and bearings of the structure, police said on Friday.
The Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners, which maintains the bridge, has to overhaul the 33-year-old structure by replacing two different types of cables, the stay and holding-down cables.
Sunday’s traffic closure is aimed at completing a part of this task, senior HRBC engineers said.
A notification issued by Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma on Friday said the partial closure to traffic was “necessary in the interest of the public and convenience for repairing and rehabilitation of Vidyasagar Setu”.
The police have drawn up a diversion plan for the time when the bridge will be shut to traffic.
Vehicles coming from Alipore towards the second Hooghly bridge will be diverted towards the Hastings crossing and then directed to move along Strand Road and further north towards Howrah bridge, the police said.
According to the diversion plan, vehicles headed for the bridge from Kidderpore
Road will be diverted from 11 Furlong Gate towards the Hastings crossing and then made to move down Strand Road towards Howrah bridge.
Small and heavy vehicles headed for the Setu along Circular Garden Reach Road will be diverted from the Hastings crossing towards St Georges Gate Road and Strand Road.
“Vehicular traffic will also be diverted through arterial roads as and when required,” read a Kolkata Police notification, signed by commissioner Verma.