KOLKATA: The twin Bailey bridges installed over the Chetla canal connecting Alipore with New Alipore has limited load-bearing capacity and equipped to handle only small vehicles. But the rush of traffic on the narrow structures, especially during the peak hours, coupled with the waiting period at the level-crossing on Majerhat tracks just ahead, has been choking the stretches on the two sides, both on New Alipore F block and the Alipore Park Road.This now poses a challenge for the bridges that were installed to decongest the Durgapur bridge, which would face regular snarls after the Majerhat bridge collapse.Crossing it now entails a waiting period of around 15-25 minutes, especially when the level crossing gates at the Majerhat railway tracks are shut to let local trains on the Sealdah-Budge Budge route pass. Police said the situation had come to such a pass that vehicles even wait in queues on the railway tracks. Sergeants on duty said slow goods trains posed a challenge as the levelcrossing had to be kept shut for longer. “While we operate the gates at an average of four-sixminute gap on an average, goods trains hold up traffic for around 10 minutes. This leads to a long queue of vehicles,” said an officer.Dipanjan Kundu, driving to Dalhousie, said he got stuck at the end of the jam near Bidya Bharati School on N R Avenue close to Alipore Mint. “I was told two local trains had passed in close proximity and that is why, the long waiting period on the bridge. The fact that several vehicles disregard the traffic police restriction of cars on Humayun Kabir Sarani added to the chaos. There was no cop on duty at the NR Avenue-F block New Alipore crossing as a result of which vehicles formed multiple lanes, blocking the way to New Alipore and Durgapur Bridge. It took me around 20 minutes to cross the Bailey Bridges from DH Road,” said Kundu.Worse, claimed motorists, bikers and cyclists travelled in the wrong direction, claiming they had “local work”. “It slows down traffic even more. While jams have become common in the various bylanes of New Alipore and NR Avenue in the morning, Alipore Park Road sees snarls in the evening,” a commuter said. Satradu Bose, travelling on a AC-4A AC bus, said it usually took him over 10 minutes in the morning to cross NR Avenue on its way to Durgapur Bridge.

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