The 4.4km-long Garden Reach flyover in west Kolkata is not attracting enough traffic, prompting police to urge the urban development department to construct two ramps for better utilisation of the flyover, which will lead to decongestion of the roads below.
The four-lane Garden Reach flyover, built at a cost of Rs 340 crore, connects Majerhat with the Brooklyn crossing.
Exactly four years after it was inaugurated in March 2018, Lalbazar has appealed to Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), which functions under the urban development department and is the custodian of the flyover, to construct the two ramps for optimal utilisation of the structure.
In a letter to the KMDA’s chief executive officer on Thursday, deputy commissioner of police, traffic, Arijit Sinha, wrote that the proposed ramps “would connect large parts of Maheshtala, Budge Budge and the Special Economic Zone in Falta to the Diamond Harbour Road thereby augmenting economic potential in the area by cutting down on the travel time”.
“We expect the volume of traffic on the flyover to go up by at least 50 per cent once the ramps are built,” Sinha told The Telegraph. “Taratala and Majherhat will witness greater decongestion as a result.”
Senior officers of the city police said the proposed ramps would connect Garden Reach flyover to Taratala Road, alighting near the Brace Bridge railway station.
“Following a traffic study, we have observed that just about 1,800 vehicles, including two-wheelers, use the flyover daily,” said a senior IPS officer. The flyover can handle a far greater volume of traffic.
The Garden Reach flyover has been a non-starter since its inauguration. In July 2018, four months after the flyover was thrown open, KMDA officials had observed that only about 10 cars were plying through it every five minutes.
A recent survey by the police revealed that many commuters headed for the city centre were opting for Circular Garden Reach Road, instead of the flyover, to cut down on distance and travel time.
In the absence of ramps, only those vehicles that would stand to benefit by travelling from one end of the flyover to the other are using it.
The proposed ramps will benefit those headed towards Esplanade, Alipore and Kidderpore from Jinjirabazar, Batanagar and parts of Behala and also those travelling in the opposite direction, the study has suggested.