Traffic has slowed down on Vidyasagar Setu because of cable repair and replacement work that started two months ago with police struggling to keep vehicles moving.
Engineers said a part of the Howrah-bound flank of the bridge will continue to remain shut at least till March. After that a portion of the Kolkata-bound flank will be closed to traffic.
What would earlier be a five-minute drive to cross the Hooghly through the bridge is now taking as many as 15 minutes on certain days. Commuters bound for Kolkata are suffering more than those heading for Howrah.
“On Saturday afternoon, when I was returning from Howrah, it took me almost 15 minutes to cross the bridge after paying the toll fee,” said a Kasba resident.
“Vehicles were struggling to move along the city-bound flank of the bridge. Long queues of vehicles started just after the toll booths.”
There are three lanes on each flank of Vidyasagar Setu, also known as second Hooghly bridge.
To facilitate the replacement of “holding down cables,” the police have shut one lane and half the width of another of the Howrah-bound flank where repairs are on.
Barriers have been placed to demarcate the sections where work is under way and through which vehicles can pass.
To compensate for the loss of road space, the police are allowing Howrah-bound vehicles to pass through one of the three lanes of the other flank.
As a result, vehicles headed for the city have only two lanes, instead of the usual three, to cross the bridge.
“There is a patch on the city-bound flank where a steel plate lies embedded slightly below the road, creating a ditch-like effect and forcing vehicles to slow down,” said a police officer overseeing traffic on the bridge.
“This slowing down and the loss of road space for the vehicles headed for the city are creating bottlenecks on the flank for Kolkata-bound traffic.”
Goods vehicles have made the task of managing traffic on the bridge even more challenging for the police.
The cops had earlier decided that for the entire duration of the repairs, all Vidyasagar Setu-bound goods vehicles from the city would be diverted to Nivedita Setu in Bally via the Tallah bridge and BT Road.
However, in less than a week after the diversion took effect, officers realised that things weren’t working out as planned.
“Goods vehicles struggled to move at night because Nivedita Setu couldn’t cope with the pressure,” said an officer at the Dunlop traffic guard. “Vehicles remained stuck on BT Road and even on Central Avenue in the morning.”
So, the police decided to allow goods vehicles on Vidyasagar Setu in fewer numbers and in phases at night.
“An oil tanker or a lorry takes up the entire width of one-and-a-half lanes of the bridge. The same is true for bigger long-distance buses,” the officer said. “We have posted a police team around the clock on the bridge.”
Officials at the HRBC, which maintains the bridge, said they will need to work through March to complete the replacement of “holding down cables” on one side of the bridge.
“We will then shift to the city-bound flank,” an official said.
“Cable replacement is a high precision job and requires time. We understand the challenges and request everyone to bear with us.”