New designated parking spots for school vehicles in Park Circus area
Times of India | 5 November 2024
12 Kolkata: In a major relief for school-goers and their guardians around Park Circus, the local traffic guard has now designated parking spots for vehicles dropping off and picking up children from the private schools located on Darga Road.
According to Park Circus traffic guard officers, who conducted trial runs for weeks before finalising the arrangement from Monday, parking for these school-bound cars will be provided for up to 30 minutes—and 45 minutes on certain days—in areas located close to the schools.
"For now, we are providing single-lane parking on Suhrawardy Avenue, towards Lady Brabourne College. In addition, parking has been given on both sides of CIT Road, after Don Bosco Island. However, no double-lane parking or blocking the main gate will be allowed. We found that this is not leading to any traffic issues, whether in the morning or afternoon, as everyone is getting a dedicated space to park their cars. However, this parking is strictly only for school-bound vehicles," said a Park Circus traffic guard officer.
The Park Circus traffic guard earlier—exactly about a year ago—asked all pool cars and private vehicles coming to pick up or drop off students at the Orient Row crossing and Darga Road to complete the task and leave without parking for more than 10 to 15 minutes but did not mark any particular stretch for this temporary parking. This was creating confusion, said cops. "These were traditional parking spots that were discontinued. Now, they are being reintroduced," said an officer.
The southeast traffic guard obtained moderate success after introducing similar changes in the Gariahat-Ballygunge school zone earlier this year. "We plan a lot more chasing—an act where our men ensure that cars that have completed dropping off/picking up students are not allowed to park in two lanes. We also plan a circular flow of school vehicles at dispersal time," he said, adding the practice is already in use in schools on Syed Amir Ali Avenue, Park Street, Minto Park, and Gariahat.
The traffic congestion issue is more apparent in the case of the girls' school in the area, which has a number of school buses parked closer to bridge number 4. This means that northbound traffic is often affected.
"Vehicles start being parked in this area from 2.30 pm and continue till after 4.30 pm. Earlier, vehicles belonging to locals and those cars that arrive to pick up students later found no space to park. But now there is enough space," an officer said.