Steps taken to expedite building corridor over Kona Expressway

kolkata: The Bengal government has taken steps to expedite the process of constructing a six-lane elevated corridor over Kona Expressway that will connect Vidyasagar Setu with National Highway 6.

Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi held a high-level meeting with senior officers of all stakeholders including the Public Works Department (PWD), Railways, Finance, and Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) on Tuesday.

The utility services, mainly near the Santragachi Railway Station, that need to be shifted have also been identified, sources said. Immediate steps needed for removal of underground pipelines and cables was also discussed in detail in the meeting.

Directions have been given to respective departments to chalk out a detailed plan of action to shift the utility services at the earliest.

It may be mentioned that a project has been taken up to build a six-lane elevated corridor over Kona Expressway that will connect National Highway 6 with Vidyasagar Setu.

The decision to construct the elevated corridor was taken up to ensure that traffic congestion on Kona expressway becomes a matter of the past. Kona Expressway serves as the entry point to the city and the number of vehicles that operate on the expressway has gone up manifold in the past few years.

At the same time one wants to reach the state Secretariat, Nabanna, from the National Highway and also needs to take the Kona Expressway.

Moreover, the Santragachi Station is also off Kona Expressway.

The elevated corridor will also give a permanent solution to the problem of traffic congestion near the station, ending woes of the commuters.