KOLKATA: The Barrackpore traffic police on Tuesday reopened the Dunlop flyover to small vehicles only, nearly a month after the elevated corridor was shut. The right-turn flyover across the busy Dunlop intersection, along with a 100m stretch of the Kolkata-bound flank of BT Road, was closed to traffic to carry out some urgent repair work. The 100m stretch on BT Road was reopened on February 9.Commuters, who were apprehensive of snarls during the shutdown, said they did not have to face much inconvenience. Now, that the flyover and the BT Road stretch have been reopened, they were even more relieved. “I feared the traffic flow would worsen when the flyover was closed. But the cops put in extra effort to keep the vehicles moving. With the flyover being reopened, my drive from Howrah to Shyambazar was smooth,” said Aloke Nandy, a trader.The Majerhat bridge collapse had prompted the Barrackpore City Police to restrict the movement of heavy vehicles on the Dunlop flyover from September 18, after PWD engineers spotted a damaged bearing that required replacement. Subsequently from January 20, all vehicles were stopped from using the Dunlop flyover and a portion of BT Road after PWD took up repair work.A PWD official confirmed the repair was over but the test run would be carried out now. “The replacement of a damaged bearing, along with five other bearings, is over. But we need two-three more days for test runs. Small cars have been allowed first before the flyover is thrown open to heavy vehicles,” said a PWD engineer, who expected the flyover to be open to heavy vehicles by February 27.As part of the repair work, the PWD team replaced the damaged bearing between Pier 12 and the deck slab girders right above the Bhagat Singh statue on BT Road. The engineers set up a scaffolding under the flyover at the crossing. The PWD demolished the iron-concrete casting surface points, which were temporarily set up for the construction, and handed over the stretch on February 9. On Tuesday, the Barrackpore traffic police removed the guardrails to reopen the flyover to small vehicles. “Small vehicles, like twowheelers, app-cabs, private cars and minidor vans, have been allowed. Buses and trucks from the Dakshineswar-side are still plying the PWD Road. The traffic cops have also been posted in adequate number at the beginning of the flyover to restrict the entry of heavy vehicles,” said Joby Thomas, DCP, traffic, Barrackpore Commissionerate.The Dunlop flyover connecting Shyambazar with Dakshineswar across the Dunlop crossing is used by vehicles headed for Barrackpore in the north and Delhi Road or GT Road in the west. Most heavy vehicles, heading for NH2 or NH116 from the Chitpore railway siding, use it at night.

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