For Kolkata, a taste of fast lane

KOLKATA: Thousands of techies commuting to Salt Lake Sector V each day and vehicles headed towards Rajarhat New Town will be able to slash their travel time by at least 15-20 minutes from May this year, when the Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA) is likely to throw open an outer ring road. It will run parallel to the waterbodies surrounding the IT hub.
The 2.5km three-lane road will connect SDF Building More to the 215A bus stand but not through the existing College More-Webel More-Phillips More route.Instead, the road will run straight — keeping the waterbody to its right — to GP Block, take a left from there to hit AQ Block and the 215A bus stand. The road is almost ready for public use.
“The ring road will be opened some time in May this year,” said state urban development minister Firhad Hakim.
The outer ring road was planned back in 2012 to decongest Sector V and to reduce the travel time between SDF Building More and 215A bus stand. It was noticed that vehicular traffic was booming in Sector V and traffic movement was screeching to a halt along the 3km stretch between SDF More and the main arterial road at New Town during office hours. Construction work of the new road remained stuck for months due to some environment issues, but the hurdles were later cleared by the authorities and work resumed in full flow thereafter.
According to sources, Bidhannagar traffic police will monitor the traffic movement along the new stretch before taking a decision on whether to make it a two-way or one-way — and in which direction — thoroughfare. The ring road will also help to improve connectivity with New Town at one end and Salt lake Bypass at another end.