VIP Road repairs lead to traffic pain near Kolkata airport
Times of India | 13 July 2025
Kolkata: The road repairs on VIP Road that started on Friday night led to severe straffic jams throughout the day on Saturday. Cops issued a caution about more traffic chaos on Sunday as well, particularly around the airport, and advised fliers to head out ahead of schedule to reach the airport on time.
TOI wrote on Saturday that PWD began urgent repairs on a stretch of the city-bound flank of VIP Road on Friday night after incessant rain severely damaged multiple stretches, leaving them battered and riddled with craters. The condition became so critical that cops shut down traffic on a portion of the Ultadanga-bound flank and diverted vehicles along the airport-bound flank on some stretches to keep cars moving amidst massive traffic snarls on Friday.
"Essential repair work on VIP Road (AAI Gate to Kaikhali Haj House, Kolkata flank) will cause partial road blockage. The work will be carried out throughout the day and night and will continue till 7 am Monday. This work aims to improve road conditions and ensure smoother traffic flow. We apologise for the inconvenience and request commuters' cooperation. Traffic personnel will be deployed to manage the situation," Bidhannagar police issued a notice early on Saturday.
TOI drove along VIP Road on Saturday, and it took around 50 minutes to travel the 1.3 km stretch between airport gate number 1 and Kaikhali at around 9.30 am on the city-bound flank. Usually, it takes around 10 minutes, even taking into account the road diversions and encroachments due to ongoing Metro construction work.
As the city-bound flank got choked, traffic moved at a snail's pace along the airport-bound flank throughout the day. Several fliers took to X to flag off the issue. "Dear Kolkata Traffic Police, tremendous traffic jam in front of Haldiram. Airport-bound traffic was stuck. Almost missed my flight. Such unprofessional management of airport-bound traffic sends the wrong message for the state's business environment. Please introspect," wrote a flier, Tanay, on X.
The traffic chaos was such that cops had to suspend the work for around two hours on Saturday afternoon to allow traffic movement on all lanes and ease the congestion, whose tail had reached Mathkal on Belghoria Expressway and stretched to Madhyamgram on Jessore Road.
PWD officials said on Saturday they worked on a 60-metre stretch of VIP Road where the top layer was grazed off and will be replaced by paver blocks. Between Sunday and Monday morning, the work will be done on a 120-metre stretch with the deployment of 100-odd men and 5 earth movers and road rollers to finish the work before the start of peak hour traffic on Monday. MSID:: 122407517 413 |Kolkata: The road repairs on VIP Road that started on Friday night led to severe straffic jams throughout the day on Saturday. Cops issued a caution about more traffic chaos on Sunday as well, particularly around the airport, and advised fliers to head out ahead of schedule to reach the airport on time.
TOI wrote on Saturday that PWD began urgent repairs on a stretch of the city-bound flank of VIP Road on Friday night after incessant rain severely damaged multiple stretches, leaving them battered and riddled with craters. The condition became so critical that cops shut down traffic on a portion of the Ultadanga-bound flank and diverted vehicles along the airport-bound flank on some stretches to keep cars moving amidst massive traffic snarls on Friday.
"Essential repair work on VIP Road (AAI Gate to Kaikhali Haj House, Kolkata flank) will cause partial road blockage. The work will be carried out throughout the day and night and will continue till 7 am Monday. This work aims to improve road conditions and ensure smoother traffic flow. We apologise for the inconvenience and request commuters' cooperation. Traffic personnel will be deployed to manage the situation," Bidhannagar police issued a notice early on Saturday.
TOI drove along VIP Road on Saturday, and it took around 50 minutes to travel the 1.3 km stretch between airport gate number 1 and Kaikhali at around 9.30 am on the city-bound flank. Usually, it takes around 10 minutes, even taking into account the road diversions and encroachments due to ongoing Metro construction work.
As the city-bound flank got choked, traffic moved at a snail's pace along the airport-bound flank throughout the day. Several fliers took to X to flag off the issue. "Dear Kolkata Traffic Police, tremendous traffic jam in front of Haldiram. Airport-bound traffic was stuck. Almost missed my flight. Such unprofessional management of airport-bound traffic sends the wrong message for the state's business environment. Please introspect," wrote a flier, Tanay, on X.
The traffic chaos was such that cops had to suspend the work for around two hours on Saturday afternoon to allow traffic movement on all lanes and ease the congestion, whose tail had reached Mathkal on Belghoria Expressway and stretched to Madhyamgram on Jessore Road.
PWD officials said on Saturday they worked on a 60-metre stretch of VIP Road where the top layer was grazed off and will be replaced by paver blocks. Between Sunday and Monday morning, the work will be done on a 120-metre stretch with the deployment of 100-odd men and 5 earth movers and road rollers to finish the work before the start of peak hour traffic on Monday. MSID:: 122407517 413 |