Traffic in Sector V is expected to ease out now that the police have enforced one-way movement between its busiest junctions.

Bidhannagar City Police had identified the problem areas of Sector V as Bowler’s Den (next to Nicco Park), SDF More, College More and Technopolis crossing. Accordingly they drafted a plan, tested and tweaked it for a few days in August and have finally put it in place now.

The stretch from SDF building to Technopolis is now one-way. Cars will be able to move towards Technopolis but not the other way back. The College More junction lies on this stretch too. “Traffic flow has been made uni-directional here. Vehicles headed towards Technopolis will be allowed to ply along both the flanks of the road,” said Nishat Pervez, deputy commissioner, headquarters, of the Bidhannnagar Commissionerate.

Conversely, the Ring Road parallel to this stretch along the bheris, has been made one-way in the opposite direction. Cars on this road will ply from the Technopolis side to the Sector V fire station near the SDF building side. This road can be availed from route 215A bus stand in AQ Block. It is 2.5km long and at least 40 feet wide. 

The new rules apply to all vehicles, all day. Other major stretches like from Bowlers’ Den to SDF Building and from Wipro to College More remain two-way. 

“Previously buses and autos would stop at all major crossings to pick up passengers, causing huge traffic snarls. Now we can improve the scenario. Also, the Ring Road is quite wide so we decided to make use of it,” added Pervez.

The Ring Road opened last year but received less traffic than expected as most motorists did not know how to reach it and where it led, said another police officer. This defeated its purpose as the road was built primarily to ease congestion in the area. 

According to officials at Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA), Sector V’s governing body, more than 15,000 vehicles — cars, bikes, buses, autos, taxis, pool cars and app cabs — enter the township daily. More than 50,000 people go there to work and the primary entry road to Sector V, the one at Bowlers’ Den, was getting clogged at peak office hours.

But commuters are happy with the new set-up. “Travel time has reduced greatly and there’s much less congestion now,” said Ashwani Agarwal, a techie who works in a software company near RDB Boulevard. 

Badrinarayan Kar, executive officer of NDITA, too seemed satisfied with the arrangement. “There is less traffic congestion now. Talks are on with the police to install more signage about the arrangement,” said Kar.

 

Are you happy with the new traffic rules in Sector V? 

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