An ambulance carrying a critical patient had to make a desperate U-turn to get off the flyover around 4:30 pm.
First day, first show at Kolkata's brand new flyover turned into a traffic nightmare, just hours after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated it and said it was a Durga Puja gift for the city.
Ms Banerjee was the first citizen to breeze up the flyover just after noon. Around 4 pm, two lanes leading from the EM Bypass to Park Circus in the city's centre, were choked with bumper-to-bumper traffic.
An ambulance that came up from the southern flank with a critical patient and siren blaring made a desperate U-turn to get off the flyover around 4:30 pm.
At 7:30 pm, at least for some time, the lane from Salt Lake to Park Circus was shut to traffic.
"I should have used the old route... I have been stuck on the flyover for 30 minutes," said an executive driving home from work.
"The view of Kolkata from on top of the flyover is nice. But this jam is terrible," said another commuter.
A young woman in a car was a little more positive. "Well, it's the first day and the jam is awful. But I think it will be good for the future," she said.
Traffic police in charge were not available for comment.
Ms Banerjee promised that the show piece should speed things up. "Our traffic moves faster than in Bengaluru and Mumbai. Many more flyovers are planned. Even if the Centre doesn't help with funds, we will do it," she said.
The flyover should snip 30 minutes off travel time from the airport in the north and Garia in the south to Park Circus in the heart of the city on a good day.
With all its arms, the flyover complex is 7.7 km long. It has cost Rs 457 crores, 130 crores more than the original 2010 budget. High price, high time but high hopes in some parts of Kolkata at least, traffic jams will be history.
Today, Kolkata is hoping, was an aberration. Tomorrow is another day.