A committee of traffic experts working on diversions for the Tallah bridge has proposed the movement of BT Road-bound buses through the Lockgate flyover in Chitpore to cut down travel time.

The matter was proposed at a review meeting on Saturday, following an inspection of the 57-year-old structure.

Apart from transport department and Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority officials, police officers from Calcutta and Barrackpore were present at the meeting.

It was suggested at the meeting that specific routes be identified on which buses could be allowed to take the flyover from Central Avenue.

The proposal came on a day private buses on two routes stopped operations, citing non-viability, and many others complained of diminishing returns because of long detours to reach Shyambazar.

The exact date when buses will be allowed on the Lockgate flyover will be finalised after a meeting with chief secretary Rajiva Sinha, an official in Nabanna said.

Heavy vehicles, including buses, have not been allowed on the 1.2km flyover since it was inaugurated in 2004.

“At present the one-way traffic rule allows small vehicles to move towards Central Avenue from BT Road till 1pm. If buses are allowed, they will move in the opposite direction on a dedicated flank on the flyover,” an official who was present at the meeting on Saturday said. “But that will have no bearing on the one-way rule for other vehicles. Once the existing bridge is pulled down, we will have to create more alternatives for the movement of vehicles. This will be one of them.”

Private bus operators have been complaining of long detours ever since heavy vehicles were banned on the Tallah bridge on September 29.

Some have said that buses were forced to travel 8-9km extra to reach either Shyambazar or Dunlop. Most buses headed for Belgachhia from Dunlop now take Dum Dum Road from Chiria More. Many travel via Lake Town and Ultadanga.

“The number of trips has gone down because of an increase in the route length. This translates into low returns for drivers and conductors,” Pradip Narayan Bose, a bus and minibus union leader in north Calcutta, said.

“This route realignment has hit the lives of close to 30,000 people, including operators, drivers, contractors and others.”

The committee has proposed that some buses could be allowed to turn right on Khagen Chatterjee Street from Chiria More on BT Road and then Cossipore Road, which runs parallel to the Lockgate flyover, to reach Central Avenue down Girish Avenue.

“The idea is to reduce the burden on the Belgachhia flyover and tackle the congestion because of traffic load,” a city police officer said. “We want to use roads lying under-utilised like Galiff Street.”

The transport department has decided to issue single-journey tickets to state bus passengers travelling on diverted routes so that they don’t have to buy fresh tickets in case of a break journey, a department official said.

The ticket from the start of journey to the final destination on such routes will be valid for the day.