Patna, March 6: Dodging traffic snarl will be easier in the state capital soon. Congestion alerts on variable message signboards will help you chart your route in advance.

Set to come up at important traffic junctions in the city in the next few months, the signboards will inform the commuters about the traffics jams and blockades in different areas. The boards will be flashing the condition of roads and caution motorists against taking clogged streets.

Superintendent of police (traffic) Ajit Kumar Sinha told The Telegraph: “Plans are there to install variable message signboards in some areas of the city. They will give the motorists an idea about the traffic situation of important roads and roundabouts of Patna.”

Sinha said: “We are contemplating to start the process of publishing tenders for installing the signboards after April.”

The officer said it was too early to say where the signboards would come up but sources said the boards would be installed at all the important roundabouts of the state capital. They would be alerting motorists at JP roundabout near Hotel Maurya, the Dakbungalow roundabout, Income Tax roundabout, Station Road area, Boring Road roundabout for sure, the sources added.

The sources said if a variable message signboard is installed at the JP roundabout, it would keep motorists posted about the traffic situation at the Dakbungalow roundabout or the Income Tax roundabout. In case of a major traffic clog on the Station Road, it would display the same.

Besides alerting the motorists on traffic congestions, the variable message signboards would also inform the commuters about road diversions because of natural or man-made reasons.

“The police will collect information about the traffic clogs in the different areas of the city through wireless. Thereafter, a traffic cop will collate the data and upload it on a system. Then the messages will be displayed on the screen,” a traffic police officer said. He said the data could also be updated using text messages. “A sub-inspector (traffic) stationed at the Dakbungalow roundabout can message the congestion-level of the area to the personnel in charge of the message boards. The latter can update the messages accordingly,” the officer said. Motorists hailed the move, saying it would spare them the agony of long wait in traffic jams.

Surendra Kumar, a motorist, said: “Several areas get choked everyday. Clueless about the condition of roads, we get stuck in them. With the message boards in place, we will know the areas which are clogged in advance and plan accordingly.”

Bharat Kumar, another commuter, said: “Traffic congestion has become a regular affair in the city. It will be great relief if we are informed in advance about the roads to avoid.”