The Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) resumed the work of the elevated Bagjola Central Canal Road at New Town which was stalled for some time. A solution was found to resume work on the project that was initiated in 2005. Now, the elevated road will be completed by August.
HIDCO, which primarily considered that it was economical to set up an elevated East-West Canal Road instead of elevating a 10-lane Major Arterial Road (MAR), could not find solution to take the project further since Metro railway lines were aligned perpendicularly in that place.
"The connection could not be made across MAR for long because of Metro rail lines that were to go at a perpendicular with it. It is really a tough job. There are three levels required to be segregated — the MAR, the elevated canal bank road and the elevated Metro railway track," said Debashis Sen, Additional Chief Secretary and Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD), HIDCO.
"But recently, we found a solution to the problem and the project was resumed again," said Sen. After a detailed study by an expert group, the dimensions were distinguished and it was decided to use steel structures rather than concrete structures for the central portion of the elevated canal road. A central pillar was constructed on the central median of MAR so that one-side traffic could flow even while erection works were to take place on the other flank.
"As you cross HIDCO Bhavan and Convention Centre, you cross the Bagjola Canal across a short bridge while going towards Airport. On both sides of the canal, on the northern bank, there is a Canal Bank road that runs through densely populated regions. Vehicles, especially three wheelers, ply regularly on it, crossing the Biswa Bangla Sarani. There is a traffic police signal that stops vehicles to allow crossing the MAR," Sen added.
"To cause minimum problems, shutdowns were taken at night. Work started from 10 pm on last Friday and continued throughout the night on one stretch. Same thing was repeated next evening and Sunday morning," said Sen.
"Now, remnant works on bearing, decking and joining will go on without disturbing the traffic on MAR. I expect the flyover to be operational by August," he added.