123 Kolkata: The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) has started repairing both carriageways of the old Ultadanga Bridge connecting Ultadanga with VIP Road, leading to diversion of traffic and long snarls on the city-bound flank from VIP Road. Motorists said they were taken by surprise as they had no prior intimation.
Crossing the bridge that usually takes half a minute took 10-15 minutes on Saturday despite traffic being less than that on weekdays. In the morning, some said it took 20 minutes to negotiate the stretch.
"It was a long wait on VIP Road as buses jostled with smaller vehicles on the small carriageway on the slip bridge. It took close to 20 minutes for me to reach Kankurgachhi. I could have avoided this stretch and instead taken the Lake Town-Belgachhia route if the traffic cops issued a public notice earlier," said Sukhendu Banerjee, a lecturer heading towards a relative's house from Baguiati.
The authorities earlier received administrative approval from the state urban development department for taking up the work that will be carried out in two phases. Phase one that is currently underway will end around 6 am on Monday. Another round of work will be carried out between Dec 13 and 16. The airport-bound flank will be closed next weekend for taking up work on the opposite flank.
"The Bidhannagar City Police, especially the Lake Town Traffic Guard, took up the diversions from VIP Road. All vehicles were asked to take the Ultadanga slip bridge and reach Salt Lake Gate 2 (the Salt Lake entry point from Hudco crossing) from where those headed north were again diverted back towards Hudco crossing. Since those headed north used Hudco crossing as well, we had to hold up airport- and Lake Town-bound traffic longer to allow cross traffic from Hudco crossing towards Khanna crossing," said an officer at Lalbazar.
Both Lake Town and Ultadanga traffic guards, which handled the diversion, claimed that the major problem on Saturday was faced in the initial hours of diversion. "Once motorists got acquainted with the traffic diversion, the situation normalised," said an officer at Lalbazar.
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