Traffic crawls along all entry and exit points of Salt Lake from EM Bypass as the roads at these intersections are peppered with potholes of every shape and size.
There are four main entry and exit points of Salt Lake from EM Bypass: the crossing of the Broadway and EM Bypass near the Sports Authority of India (SAI) complex; the Hyatt intersection, along the Salt Lake stadium; the crossing of EM Bypass and Second Avenue that leads to CA island; and the busiest one from Chingrighata.
During peak hours, traffic snarls are common at all these crossings and despite the presence of traffic personnel, the going is extremely slow because of bad roads that are turning worse day by EM Bypass from Salt Lake via Broadway.
“I have tried two alternative exits, at Hyatt and Goutam’s. But snarls are more common over there and the signal cycle is such that barely three or four vehicles get onto EM Bypass before the light turns red,” said Choudhury.
On Friday, at the SAI intersection, The Telegraph saw a 50m-long stretch of the Salt Lake-bond flank of Browadway had deep depressions because of which vehicles had to slow down considerably.
The situation is similar on the EM Bypass-bound flank of this road as well. And every time the signal turned green motorists crawled before they could hit EM Bypass.
At the Hyatt crossing, too, there are large potholes that slow down traffic considerably. To add to it a short signal cycle of around 45 seconds only allows a few vehicles to get onto the arterial thoroughfare.
The situation is similar at the Goutam’s crossing as well.
Those headed towards EM Bypass get a window of around 40 seconds even during peak hours because of which there is a long queue of cars on the EM Bypass-bound flank of Second Avenue that leads to CA island.
The Salt Lake-bound flank of this road, however, is devoid of any snarls.
A senior officer of Bidhannagar police commissionerate’s traffic wing said they had requested the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation to conduct urgent repairs at the SAI Complex and the Hyatt crossing as a large number of vehicles are expected to enter Salt Lake and head towards the Salt Lake stadium for the Durand Cup matches that are scheduled here.
A senior official of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation’s road repairs department said that they were conducting patchwork repairs.
A spell of consecutive dry days is necessary for a more thorough job, the official added.
