Boards with “Pedestrian prohibited” and “Slow moving vehicles prohibited” written on them have been placed at several points at the Baguiati intersection on VIP Road.
Police are also using loudhailers during rush hours to prevent pedestrians from crossing VIP Road and making them use the pedestrian subway complex at the intersection.
These are part of an awareness campaign by the Bidhannnagar commissionerate.
VIP Road, a key artery that connects the airport with the city, witnesses a sizable volume of traffic every day.
A senior officer at the Bidhannagar commissionerate said they were running the campaign keeping in mind the safety of pedestrians who often dart across VIP Road putting themselves as well as motorists at risk.
Slow-moving vehicles have also been prohibited from plying on VIP Road as they often cause traffic snarls, which lead to an increase in travel time on both flanks of the thoroughfare — one used by airport-bound vehicles and the other by vehicles moving towards Ultadanga.
On Monday, Metro spotted several pedestrians zig-zagging through traffic to cross VIP Road. Men and women on bicycles were also seen riding against the flow of traffic on both flanks.
To add to the mess, rickshaws, bicycles and vans had a free run on the artery, forcing many motorists to either hit the brakes or swerve dangerously at the last minute to avoid hitting them.
The Baguiati intersection is one of the busiest along VIP Road as there are densely populated pockets on both sides. Adding to the traffic woes, hawkers selling fish, vegetables and poultry products have taken over a 200m stretch in front of the Baguiati bus stop on both flanks.
Every morning and evening, hawkers set up stalls by laying plastic sheets on the road or park their vans and carts on the road. Shoppers — those headed to the Baguiati market as well as those who shop from roadside stalls — park their vehicles at random along the road.
These stalls and parked vehicles create bottlenecks, said an officer at the commissionerate. “We conduct regular drives and ask hawkers to move away. The moment they see cops or a police vehicle approaching, they pack up and leave, only to return the moment the cops are gone.”
“The Baguiati crossing is one of the busiest intersections on VIP Road. There is a pedestrian subway and we are trying to get more and more people to use it. That is why we are running a campaign to generate awareness about the risks people are taking every day while walking across the carriageway with vehicles speeding past them. The campaign is aimed at reducing accidents and boosting road safety for all users,” said an officer at the commissionerate.
This newspaper visited the pedestrian subway on Monday afternoon. It was its usual deserted self.
