Feb. 17: Two flyovers will be built connecting Kona Expressway and the Santragachhi bus terminus to ease the congestion on the Howrah artery and ensure optimum utilisation of the 10-acre terminus.

One of the flyovers will take off from the Kona-end of the expressway and lead to the terminus. The other will originate from the bus stand and turn towards the Vidyasagar Setu-end of the expressway.

The flyover leading to the terminus will span 565m. The other flyover, to be 525m-long, will move along the northern flank of the expressway before merging with the artery.

The flyovers will ensure that vehicles on the expressway will not have to stop for buses to enter or leave the terminus.

The transport department will provide the cost of building the flyovers - Rs 41 crore. The Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners will execute the project.

"The construction of the flyovers could not start even two years after the Santragachhi bus terminus became operational in the absence of the mandatory clearance from the National Highway Authority of India," transport minister Suvendu Adhikari said.

"The glitches have been ironed out. We have completed the process of inviting tenders. This will be a time-bound work."

Insiders said the flyovers would be ready within a year and a half. Once they are opened to traffic, the government will start pushing all long-distances buses to terminate their journey at the Santragachhi stand, instead of Calcutta.

"Considering the location - right across Santragachhi railway station - we have decided to set up the bus stop as a multi-modal terminal," transport department secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said.

"A prepaid taxi booth will be set up at the terminus. A study by the World Bank suggests that the terminus would emerge as a key integration centre in future mass transportation."

Built to accommodate all the buses terminating at Babughat and Esplanade, the Santragachhi bus terminus has been lying largely under-utilised.