After a year-long delay, the Park Street flyover will finally be ready this November. Officers of the transport department and of the contractor, Senbo Engineering, said on Monday that problems contributing to the delay had been sorted out and the flyover would definitely open to vehicular traffic by November.

“About 65 per cent of the work is ready and we are rushing through the rest,” said Kajal Sengupta, chairman and managing director of Senbo Engineering on Monday.

Work on the flyover, being built with funds from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), started in November 2001. It was scheduled to be completed by November 14, 2003.

JBIC authorities had expressed their concern over the tardy progress of work. Concerned over the excessive delay, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee asked chief secretary Ashok Gupta to take the initiative to speed up the work.

The chief secretary held meetings with the construction company, transport secretary Sumantra Chowdhury and Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners officials (the implementing agency of the project), and asked them to try and speed up the project.

The Park Street flyover has become a major embarrassment for the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government. Two flyovers with JBIC funds — at Gariahat and AJC Bose Road — have already been opened to traffic.

The HRBC authorities have, in the past, blamed the contractors for the delay. “The contractors failed to prepare a proper work schedule and wasted a lot of time in starting construction and taking necessary preventive measures, like traffic diversion and relocation of underground pipelines. We wondered why the Park Street flyover is running behind schedule when the AJC Bose flyover was completed in time,’’ an HRBC official said.

The construction firm, according to officials, had cited problems in procuring 1,700 tonnes of special steel. “While clarifying the cause of delay, the contractor told us it had to wait a long time for the steel. Besides, it had to face a lot of hurdles in relocating underground pipelines. However, we have sorted out the problem now,” the official added.

“Already, work on the foundation is complete, 75 per cent of the allied work around the flyover is also done. And 45 per cent of the steel structure is now over,” Sengupta said.