CUTTACK: The much-needed foot over-bridge (FOB) at Badamabadi could finally see the light of the day within a month as the work on its construction reaches its final stages.
The main platform linking both the ends of the road would be lifted on Saturday with Selvel, the executing company, promising to make the FOB functional by mid-February. The lifting process will, however, cause disruptions in traffic on the night of January 14 with Commissionerate Police clamping restrictions on vehicular and pedestrian movement on Badambadi- Palamandap stretch from 11 pm on January 15 to 6 am the next day.
With the road shut down, buses and other vehicles would be diverted from Madhupatna through Ring Road to Khan Nagar crossing to access Badambadi and vice-versa. All hotels, shops and commercial establishments have also been directed to close down during the period as a precautionary measure, the traffic authorities said.
The FOB coming up near Angul Bus Stand, albeit delayed by a couple of years, will be a boon to thousands of floating pedestrian public who have to cross the ever-busy Badambadi main road to access different bus stands or for other purposes every hour. The rush most often leads to accidents and gridlock.
The FOB is being constructed by the company at a cost of ` 1.5 crore on a PPP mode with the Cuttack Municipal Corporation. The project was to be completed in 2010 but had been held up on account of delays in obtaining clearances and NoCs from various agencies, special officer (liaisoning) Jagannath Patnaik said.
The arrangement is such that the company would erect and maintain the FOB and would earn revenues through advertisements on the facility. The facility would have sufficient lighting and be disabled-friendly with ramps, Patnaik said.