A new choke point at the Race Course Road crossing could be the price of a seamless drive from the EM Bypass towards the city through the soon-to-be inaugurated ramp connecting the Parama and AJC Bose Road flyovers.

Officers in Lalbazar, the city police headquarters, said tweaking the signalling system at the crossing was the only option available as of now to combat the anticipated increase in traffic density there once the ramp opens.

An estimated 110 vehicles currently reach the crossing every minute during peak hours, which traffic officers suspect will rise to at least 140 once the ramp becomes operational.

The plan is to inaugurate the 1km ramp on February 10. Sources in the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) said the inauguration could happen even earlier.

Vehicles arriving at the crossing from the EM Bypass have so long had to cross the Park Circus seven-point and Circus Avenue-Nasiruddin Road intersections after descending from the Parama flyover.

After the ramp opens, cars will get an uninterrupted passage. Maidan-bound vehicles taking the Parama flyover from the EM Bypass will be able to come to the Race Course crossing without having to go through any other signal.

Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

“Vehicles coming down the Parama flyover towards Race Course Road currently cannot avoid two traffic signals, both of which take up a lot of time,” a police officer said.

“The flip side of this is that vehicles get onto the AJC Bose Road flyover in batches and arrive at the Race Course Road crossing likewise,” he said.

The plan is to tweak the signal timings at the crossing to ensure there is no snarl there.“We have noticed during office hours that there are more cars taking a right turn from the crossing towards Hospital Road that leads to the central business district. We are planning to alter the signal timings in such a way that the waiting time for these cars get reduced,” the officer said.

Police sources said they would note the time taken by a car to cover the distance between EM Bypass and Race Course crossing via the Parama and AJC Bose Road flyovers.

“The average time taken for a car to reach from one end to another should help us tweak the signal timings. We will then know the volume of traffic that can potentially reach the Race Course end at a time,” the officer said.

Most cars taking AJC Bose Road flyover approach through Circus Avenue. A few cars also come through Nasiruddin Road.

Since many cars coming down the AJC Bose Road flyover take a right turn towards the Maidan (Hospital Road), how quickly the vehicles already waiting get to move will determine what happens behind them. If the crossing isn’t cleared at short intervals, there will be snarls on the flyover, the police fear.

“A long snarl on the flyover will trigger traffic paralysis,” the officer said.

He said Lalbazar had proposed that a ramp be built connecting the AJC Bose Road flyover with Hospital Road.