Signal-free drive on choked artery in Kolkata.
Kolkata Police promise Moulali To Hastings in 20 mins.
Almost nine years after the failed attempt to introduce a "green corridor" on CR Avenue, the Kolkata Police has decided to introduce a “minimum signal“ corridor from Moulali to Hastings on AJC Bose Road. Trials are on and a formal announcement is likely by next month. However, learning from bitter experience, police are stopping short of calling it a `green channel'.
The concept of green corridor is simple -if you get a green signal at Moulali, you will continue to get green all the way up to Hastings. You could sail through some of the biggest crossings - Mullickbazar, Exide and DL Khan-Race Course and smaller but equally time consuming signals, such as Minto Park. If implemented well, it will greatly minimize the bottleneck in the heart of central and south Kolkata.
Right now, it takes at least an hour (sometimes 90 minutes) to cross this 8km stretch, thanks to the long waiting times at crossings and slow speed of traffic. If the new plan works out, it could reduce travel time to a mere 20-22 minutes. Police say they can bring it down to 17 minutes if they can ensure green all through.
Police say there is sound logic for why they believe the AJC Bose Road experiment has potential. "CR Avenue not only has numerous crossings but also has hundreds of slow moving vehicles criss-crossing it. During our green channel experiment, though the waiting time was less, the frequency with which these vehicles broke traffic signals and move right on to CR Avenue defeated our purpose. On the other hand, AJC Road has major crossings and very few slow vehicles," said an officer.
He explained that police have to be careful about two stretches in the last experiment -the one between Ripon Street crossing and Mullickbazar, which has heavy auto movement, and a stretch near Minto Park where there is a lot of criss-cross movement from the smaller roads and bylanes.
But traffic police know there are big question marks on implementation. "We are working on the channels, trying to develop a system that can respond to the situation on the road and change signals on realtime basis. It is not a green channel since vehicles will have to halt at crossings. But this stoppage time will be minimal.Studies show positive results so far," said a senior officer.
DC-traffic V Solomon Nesakumar confirmed the project. "We are experimenting with signals that will see us shift from merely auto-manual time signaling system to a more intelligent one. But we are not looking at a green channel immediately," he said.
Also on the pipeline is the long delayed introduction of Area Traffic Control (ATC) system that was initially expected before Poila Boisakh 2009. Under the new system, if you travel at a steady speed, you can pass the maximum number of signals without having to stop at a red light. As many as 99 crossings in the Central Business District will be in the ATC loop. Traffic information boards will be set up at most major crossings to inform motorists about the roads to take and avoid.
It aims to make the signalling system less dependent on individual cops. "We are factoring in the drastic change in vehicle pattern on some roads.We are engaging several private bodies through PPP model to study the situation," said a traffic officer.
(Source: Toi Kolkata dated 2016-03-20)
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