A plan to have a skywalk at the Ruby intersection on EM Bypass, which was mooted nearly two years ago but did not make much progress, is again being revived.
At a meeting of the road safety committee of Kolkata last week, officials of the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) briefed the city’s police commissioner about the project.
The officials told the commissioner how it is likely to help pedestrians and traffic management at the crossing once the New Garia-Ruby section of the Metro line is opened.
The Hemanta Mukherjee Metro station is at the Ruby crossing.
Already a busy intersection, the number of people trying to cross the road will increase once trains start running and the station is opened.
On Saturday, police officers and KMDA officials discussed the plan of the skywalk during a visit to the crossing.
“We discussed the plan of the skywalk. Ruby is very important and a large number of people are already crossing the road at the intersection. When the Metro station becomes operational, the number of pressure points at the crossing will increase,” said Amit Kumar Shaw, deputy commisioner of police, traffic (South), who was present at Saturday’s deliberations.
KMDA officials said they had prepared a detailed project report in early 2022.
The Metro Railway announced on December 19 that the fare between New Garia and Ruby would be Rs 20. The 5.4km-stretch was initially supposed to have been operational by the end of February this year.
There is, however, no word yet on the inauguration of commercial services on the stretch. The New Garia-Ruby section is part of the larger New Garia-Airport (Orange Line) corridor.
According to the plan, the circular skywalk will have multiple exit points. The skywalk will be linked to the two exits of Hemanta Mukherjee station — one in front of the transport department office along the Ultadanga-bound flank of EM Bypass and another in front of the passport office along the Garia-bound flank.
“Commuters coming out of Hemanta Mukherjee station need not enter the road. They can walk into the skywalk and get down at any side of the crossing. This will reduce the pressure of pedestrians at the crossing,” said a KMDA official.
“There will be exits from the skywalk on the Gariahat-bound flank of the Rashbehari connector and also opposite Ruby hospital, on the road leading to Anandapur,” the official said.
There will be entry points at all four corners of the Ruby crossing, at the same places as the exit points. Each of the corners will also have escalators.
The plan prepared by the KMDA estimated that the skywalk would cost about Rs 80 crore. The proposed length would be 400 metres with a diameter of 70m.
“The skywalk will be built under the Metro corridor. It will be 17ft above the road,” said the KMDA official.