Bigger Bypass to tackle jam

A STAFF REPORTER

THE TELEGRAPH, Thursday , July 10 , 2008

If driving past the Ruby rotary on the EM Bypass during peak hours leaves you on the edge, the good news is that you won’t have a bad time on that road every day for the rest of your life.

The Bypass will be expanded from two to four lanes from the rotary to Kamalgazi, on the southern fringes, during Phase III of a project that seeks to make up for the city planners’ lack of foresight when the speed corridor was conceived.

With the growth of high-end residential complexes and malls along the Bypass leading to a manifold increase in the vehicle count, the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has drafted a blueprint to not only increase the lanes but also upgrade the service roads along that stretch.

The city planners have also lined up a bus corridor till Baruipur, the headquarters of South 24-Parganas district, and a flyover next to the one at Bagha Jatin. The Ruby-Kamalgazi Bypass expansion project is estimated to cost around Rs 40crore.

The railway authorities have been asked to do a feasibility study for the flyover project, which will have a budget of around Rs 39 crore.

More road space will not only ease the troubles of thousands who regularly fret over traffic snarls along the Bypass, especially near the Ruby rotary, but also strengthen Bengal’s case for a centrally-sponsored rapid bus transit system for the city.

The idea is to create a dedicated pathway for buses without infringing on the space for other vehicles plying on the Bypass.

“We want to convert the stretch from Ultadanga to Kamalgazi into eight lanes so that we have one lane on each flank for rapid bus movement. Before seeking the Centre’s nod for the scheme, we need to complete the lane-expansion project,” said P.R. Bavishkar, the CEO of the CMDA.

Traffic on the Bypass is expected to grow by around 15 per cent annually, more so because the proposed Barasat-Raichak expressway will pass through Baruipur.

Work on expanding the stretch from Ultadanga to the Parama rotary is in progress. During Phase II, the stretch from Parama to the Ruby rotary will be widened. Each of the extra lanes along the stretch from Ruby to Kamalgazi will be 7.2 metres wide.

“More housing complexes are set to come up in this area and mega malls are already under construction. So, we have to facilitate better connectivity along this stretch. We have begun work on the six-lane stretch from Kamalgazi to Baruipur and it should be complete in a year and a half,” a senior officer of the CMDA said.