A bus halts on the bay to pick up passengers near Link Road in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Nov. 5: Two bus bays, which were made operational on the Link Road by police yesterday, are expected to help streamline vehicular movement here.

The bays have been constructed near the railway bridge and the BSNL office as part of a long-term plan to regulate rush on the road by creating separate bus bays.

A senior police officer, however, said the bus bays would be made fully operational only after Bali yatra as it would require round-the-clock deployment of traffic cops to ensure that the bays were being used.

“We have been successful in checking congestion at these two busy points. We plan to ensure that all the buses operating from Badambadi and other bus stands use the bays,” said assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Pramod Rath.

Rath further said no bus would be allowed to pick up and drop passengers on the Link Road and near Madhupatna Chhak.

The bus bays have been set up following the decision of the traffic management committee after reviewing traffic chaos on the Link Road.

Another traffic official said the buses would be given two to three minutes’ time to enter and exit the bay, which will facilitate passengers to board and alight from the buses.

Earlier, the commuters were having a harrowing time while travelling towards Madhupatna from Badambadi as buses made arbitrary halts on the 2.5km stretch.

“We can now move freely towards Badambadi from Madhupatna as buses have been asked to drop passengers at the bay instead of halting on the main road,” said Sudhakar Sahu, a commuter.

Sahu said the once-congested stretch of Link Road witnessed free flow of traffic since the inauguration of the bus bays yesterday.

However, many commuters also alleged that it was a risky affair to board and alight from the buses at the bus bay because of its poor infrastructure.

“The traffic officials should construct a proper passenger shed near the bay. Moreover, there is no provision for alighting near the bays, which creates problems for the passengers,” said Rakesh Jaiswal, another commuter.