Police have initiated a study to find out if the existing timings of traffic signals at the Chingrighata intersection on EM Bypass can be tweaked to better manage the flow of vehicles, particularly during the morning and evening rush hours.

A key intersection along the eastern corridor, the Chingrighata crossing has witnessed a surge in the flow of vehicles over the years that slows down rush-hour traffic.

The evenings have been especially challenging with cars and buses from Salt Lake and Sector V struggling to make it to EM Bypass, resulting in bottlenecks in Salt Lake.

“The city’s road space has remained more or less the same while the vehicle count has increased. We have decided to study the existing signal timings at Chingrighata to find out if some tweaks can be made for better traffic management,” Yeilwad Shrikant Jagannathrao, deputy police commissioner (traffic), told The Telegraph.

“After Chingrighata, we will do the same for other key intersections.”

Senior officers managing traffic at the intersection said there are separate signals to allow movements of vehicles in different directions.

There is a set of signals meant for vehicles headed towards Ultadanga from Science City, one for those moving towards Science City from Beleghata, a third for those headed straight from Salt Lake Bypass towards Canal South Road and finally, one for the vehicles that take a left turn at the crossing to head towards Science City from Salt Lake Bypass.

The timings of the different signals are coordinated to make them function in a cycle so the total waiting period at the crossing doesn’t exceed two to three minutes.

“When vehicles from Salt Lake Bypass are allowed to move either straight or take a left turn at the Chingrighata crossing, traffic signals for Ultadanga-bound and Science City-bound vehicles are turned red at the crossing,” said a senior officer.

“For several seconds after the flow of cars heading straight from Salt Lake Bypass have been stopped, those taking a left turn are allowed to do so. The traffic signal for Ultadanaga-bound vehicles is then turned green. The timings of signals are worked out so there is a fine balance.”

The study will help identify whether the evening timings of one of the cycles of the traffic signals at the Chingrighata crossing can be tweaked so that more vehicles can take a left turn towards Science City from Salt Lake Bypass than now, officers said.

The impact of this possible change in signal timing on vehicles headed south from Beleghata along EM Bypass and crossing the Chingrighata intersection would be taken into account in the study, officers said.

“The road is narrower where vehicles from Salt Lake Bypass take a left turn towards Science City. An
additional lane beginning from a spot close to the point of left turn till Captain
Bhery can help decongest the traffic significantly,” an officer said.

“A joint study with police, the PWD and the urban development department officials on how this lane can be culled out was conducted. But nothing has taken a shape yet.”