Flyover work clogs crossing

KOLKATA: Monday's Air India flight to London (via Delhi) was scheduled to take off at 10.30 am. All 79 passengers, including state minister for relief and agriculture marketing Mortaza Hossain, boarded the flight by 10.20 am. But the flight couldn't take off before 11.15 am. Reason? Commander D Dutta reached the airport only at 10.55.
As an Air India official later explained: "The commander got stuck in a massive traffic jam at the Wipro crossing just before Rajarhat Expressway.It has turned out to be a regular problem."
After VIP Road, Rajarhat Expressway has turned out to be a nightmare for airport-bound motorists, thanks to construction work on a 500-metre flyover from the Wipro Crossing to Nicco Park. Traffic remains clogged for hours at the Wipro crossing ever since KMDA began work on the project six months ago. And, this is likely to continue till October, when the project is scheduled to be completed.
There is one way, though, for motorists to avoid the harassment. KMDA recently inaugurated a connector from Salt Lake's BL Block to an approach road of Rajarhat Expressway. Traffic officials claim it is the best bypass route to avoid snarls at the Wipro crossing. But most motorists aren't even aware of the connector and, hence, don't take this new route.
When TOI contacted the minister, Hossain said: "On Monday, I went to the airport from my Deganga residence and was not part of the congestion on Wipro crossing. But I have to face the problem every day when I reach home from Writers'. Something should be done at the earliest to solve the problem."
Fliers stranded at the crossing flood airlines officials with phone calls. Those who try taking the expressway to avoid snarls on VIP Road find themselves stranded at the Wipro crossing. On finally making it to the airport, they realise it would have taken them the same time to reach had they taken VIP Road.
"Every evening, we get numerous calls with unusual requests to hold flights for half an hour or more. There are cases when flights have been delayed by 10 to 15 minutes as a large section of passengers reach the airport late," said an airline official.
Police officers posted at the Wipro crossing said the flyover project has narrowed all four roads that connect to the crossing, making their task difficult.
Since the traffic volume to and from Sector V and Karunamoyee is very high, they are compelled to stop traffic on both ways along the Rajarhat-Chingrihata stretch for long periods. "During peak hours, we allow traffic to ply along the Chingrihata-Rajarhat flank for five out of every 20 minutes while keeping it closed for the remaining 15 minutes," said one of them.
Bidhannagar police officers suggest that airport-bound traffic from the city should take the Beliaghata bypass crossing instead of Chingrihata. From there, they should reach BL Block via Karunamoyee to take the connector to Rajarhat Expressway. "This will increase their journey by only 3 km. By avoiding the Wipro crossing, they can save at least 30 minutes to an hour," said ASP Debabrato Das.