Kolkata: The Regent Park Traffic Guard converged on the Jubilee Park-Police Estate crossing close to Tollygunge metro station, trying to come up with long- as well as short-term measures to ensure safety for commuters. At that very spot on Monday, an assistant sub-inspector from the Diamond Harbor police district, Rituparna Dey (36), met with an accident as her bike skidded on the tram tracks and an oil tanker crushed her from behind, leading to her death. .
For now, police have created a corridor by setting up guard rails on the rightmost lane of Deshapran Sashmal Road for all vehicles bound for Jubilee Park or the Tollygunge police estate and coming from the Behala-Haridevpur-Garia side. Tollygunge Fari-bound vehicles can use the left lanes.
A separate signal has been set up there, similar to ones that were previously installed a little ahead for the MR Bangur-RCGC crossings. Police have also reset the signal timings on the Regent Park/Karunamoyee Bridge-bound flank so that those vehicles get ample time to take the right turn to Jubilee Park or take a U-turn towards Garia. “This cut is important as we no longer allow right turns at the Mahanayak Uttam Kumar statue crossing. Management of this crossing will be given importance,” said a Lalbazar officer.
For the long run, traffic police have requested WBTC and KMC to concretise the road between the MR Bangur new building and the Tollygunge tram depot without disturbing the tram tracks. “We also want to build refuge islands there to help pedestrians walk across Deshapran Sashmal Road,” said an officer. Police have also decided to send SOS to both WBTC and KMC, asking for proper maintenance of the operational tram tracks, especially in the fog season. “The concrete parts have worn off, leading to potholes that are hard to spot from a distance,” said a biker.
KMC said this maintenance had to be carried out by WBTC. “We have completed repairs on our part,” said an official. WBTC officers said they would review the condition of the road and try to get patchwork done to prevent further accidents. “We need to ascertain if the condition of the tram tracks can be blamed at all,” said an official.
For now, police have created a corridor by setting up guard rails on the rightmost lane of Deshapran Sashmal Road for all vehicles bound for Jubilee Park or the Tollygunge police estate and coming from the Behala-Haridevpur-Garia side. Tollygunge Fari-bound vehicles can use the left lanes.
A separate signal has been set up there, similar to ones that were previously installed a little ahead for the MR Bangur-RCGC crossings. Police have also reset the signal timings on the Regent Park/Karunamoyee Bridge-bound flank so that those vehicles get ample time to take the right turn to Jubilee Park or take a U-turn towards Garia. “This cut is important as we no longer allow right turns at the Mahanayak Uttam Kumar statue crossing. Management of this crossing will be given importance,” said a Lalbazar officer.
For the long run, traffic police have requested WBTC and KMC to concretise the road between the MR Bangur new building and the Tollygunge tram depot without disturbing the tram tracks. “We also want to build refuge islands there to help pedestrians walk across Deshapran Sashmal Road,” said an officer. Police have also decided to send SOS to both WBTC and KMC, asking for proper maintenance of the operational tram tracks, especially in the fog season. “The concrete parts have worn off, leading to potholes that are hard to spot from a distance,” said a biker.
KMC said this maintenance had to be carried out by WBTC. “We have completed repairs on our part,” said an official. WBTC officers said they would review the condition of the road and try to get patchwork done to prevent further accidents. “We need to ascertain if the condition of the tram tracks can be blamed at all,” said an official.
