Kolkata: After a joint inspection by the airport authorities, police, PWD and civic officials at the intersection of VIP Road and Jessore Road near airport, the spots were identified for building the gates of a pedestrian subway for crossing the VIP Road.
The facility would also alleviate traffic congestion in the vicinity, which directly affects the accessibility to the airport.The inspection was a follow-up to a meeting held three weeks prior, where all involved parties acknowledged the significance of the pedestrian subway.
The Bidhannagar Police has been advocating for the pedestrian subway near Kolkata airport for a long time to prevent accidents and ensure smooth vehicle movement. The project has finally gained momentum after the police identified a small portion of land within the airport premises and requested the authorities to allocate it for the construction of one of the subway gates on the north-western side.
“The area has been listed as a black spot because of multiple accidents recorded here and thus there is an urgent need of an underpass here. We are preparing an engineering map. Once it is ready there will be another round of meetings to prepare the blueprint and go ahead with the project,” said a PWD official.
In the past, TOI had reported on various plans to address the traffic congestion at the VIP Road – Jessore Road intersection, including the construction of foot overbridges and flyovers.
Moreover, in a recent survey on airport service quality conducted by Airports Council International, the trade association of the world’s airports, the city airport had performed poorly in terms of ‘ease of getting to the airport.’
But, with several construction projects underway on VIP Road, including a 15m wide and 5.5m high, four-lane vehicular underpass and New Garia-Airport Metro line, cops realized that this was the ideal time to revisit the issue.