Dhaka not ready for traffic pressure

Cars caught in targeted traffic congestion on the street approaching Uttara in close proximity to Dhaka airport on Wednesday. — Sony Ramany

With the opening of the a lot-awaited Padma Bridge, the visitors congestion in the capital Dhaka is likely to grow to be severer due to a absence of arranging and initiatives, authorities officials and industry experts explained.

The Padma Bridge is aimed at bettering conversation amongst Dhaka and 21 south-western districts, but urban transport system gurus say targeted visitors gridlock in and about Dhaka might generate an obstacle to achieving the target.

Ring streets all-around the capital must have been made even though developing the bridge to cope with added traffic actions in the cash, they explained.

Diversion of site visitors, they extra, by ring roads surrounding the cash would have been the most successful answer to the new condition.

Bangladesh Bridge Authority has carried out the 6.15-kilometre street-cum-railway bridge involving Mawa issue in Munshiganj and Janjira level in Shariatpur to connect the money with the south-western districts of the country.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the bridge on June 25 and it will be open to visitors at 6:00am the upcoming working day.

The vehicles from south-western districts will now use the Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga expressway and enter Dhaka from Jatrabari applying the Mayor Mohammed Hanif Flyover.

Roads and Highways Department Dhaka Zone added chief engineer Md Sabuj Uddin Khan instructed New Age that substantial congestion may possibly be witnessed at Jatrabari level.

At the key exit stage at Chankharpool there remained only two toll booths when there must be six extra booths, he explained, including that traffic congestion has by now become a normal scene there.

‘This scenario will flip severer when the Padma Bridge will be inaugurated and the flyover can be packed till Postogola Bridge,’ he added.

Bangladesh College of Engineering Technologies professor and a previous Incident Study Institute director Md Shamsul Hoque explained to New Age that the  Padma Bridge would have a immediate affect on the Dhaka targeted traffic condition.

In Dhaka, far more persons would now come from these districts, more personal and products-laden autos would come and even some cars would cross Dhaka to use Padma Bridge rather of using the Dhaka-Aricha corridor, he claimed.

‘This direct connectivity will multiply the targeted visitors congestion in the money,’ he claimed.

Dhaka has currently been grappling with heavy targeted traffic congestion while new site visitors from the bridge will cause congestion at 10 gateways of the capital, together with at Buriganga Bridge, Bosila and Hanif flyover, Shamsul explained.

He emphasised the completion of ring roadways surrounding the funds.

‘These roads really should have been done before. The development of these roads  is now tricky at current thanks to land acquisition,’ he reported, including, ‘not only for the bridge but also for bypassing cars from Dhaka these roadways at peripheries are really important.’

The Revised Strategic Transportation Program for 2015 to 2035, which was accredited in August 2016, envisaged separating intra-capital targeted traffic circulation from inter-district website traffic by the construction of a 73km internal ring road, 108km center ring street and 129km outer ring street passing through the capital’s flood flow zones.

The interior ring street would present a new route to commuters around the money, Teramukh-Abdullahpur-Gabtoli-Rayerbazar-Babu Bazar-Sadarghat-Fatullah-Chashara-Signboard-Shimrail-Demra-Japanese Bypass and on the way stretches of it would go by the Balu River in the east and the Burignga River in the south.

The middle ring highway has been prepared to build a route alongside Outpura-Dhaka Bypass-Bhulta-Kanchpur-Jhilmil-Western Bypass.

Prepared to operate together the capital’s outer periphery the outer ring road would generate a new traffic route linking Hemayetpur-Kalakandi-Madanpur-Danga-Bypail-Gazipur.

SM Salehuddin, the then government director of Dhaka Transportation Coordination Board, explained to New Age that when the authorities had begun to build the Padma Bridge they really should have also started out to get ready other infrastructures to facilitate the vehicular movement to the money.

‘Dhaka will deal with problems from two sides – increased targeted visitors congestion and existence of substantial individuals coming by crossing the bridge day by day,’ he observed.

Salehuddin mentioned that as the bridge would lessen the journey time from 21 districts to Dhaka considerably quite a few people would check out to enter Dhaka and return on the exact same day expanding the existence of people today and cars in the money.

Salehuddin, who is also one of the consultants of the Bus Route Rationalisation committee, suggested the construction of internal and outer ring roadways straight away to bypass the stress of autos from Dhaka.

Authorization for autos to enter the capital, managing the variety of products-carrying vans coming from other districts and ban on opening any new sector, offices and instructional establishments in Dhaka and moving distinct amenities to other districts may aid, he extra.

Jahangirnagar University city and regional setting up professor Akter Mahmud explained that when the bridge would be inaugurated the number of cars coming from south-western districts would increase for Dhaka and its adjacent districts.

Akter, also a previous president of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners, explained that the governing administration should build inner and primarily the center ring streets promptly to bypass the vehicles.

He observed that as soon as the four-lane up-gradation is effective on the Dhaka-Aricha highway had been concluded pressure on cars would increase additional in the funds.

Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority executive director Neelima Akhter mentioned that they experienced proposed setting up ring roadways in the Revised Strategic Transportation Plan although no research or feasibility experiments have been carried out to his finish so considerably.

The Roads and Highways Office was performing with the inner ring street but till now no funding supply was confirmed, she said.

‘We are heading to hold a meeting with all stakeholders on June 19 to focus on the transportation system, site visitors diversion and preparation after the Padma Bridge inauguration,’ Neelima stated.

Roadways and Highways Section Dhaka Zone additional chief engineer Md Sabuj Uddin Khan explained that they experienced accomplished a feasibility study to assemble the inner ring highway in 2017.

Due to the fact then RHD started out to glimpse for resources from donor businesses but until now no donor company agreed to finance the task, he mentioned.

RHD additional secretary Md Yousub Ali Mollah said that a assembly of the highway transport and bridges ministry on June 9 directed the section to repair service the connecting roads about Dhaka to bypass the targeted traffic.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s additional commissioner for targeted traffic, Md Munibur Rahman, stated that they had some programs to deal with the traffic that would appear by using Padma Bridge.

They would divert the Chattogram-bound automobiles through Postogola Bridge and then to a connecting road toward Narayanganj by means of Pagla, he claimed.

Through peak hrs, he stated, they would divert Motijheel/Ramna-sure motor vehicles by streets at Doyaganj underneath the Mayor Hanif Flyover.

The flyover would have the autos to diverse directions like Nimtoli, Gabtoli, Motijheel and Bishwa Road, he continued.

Products-laden motor vehicles would operate during off-peak hrs through the city even though they would also enable some inter-district buses to cross the city throughout these hours, he stated.

The added commissioner hoped that when an less than-design bridge on the river Sitalaykhya would be concluded the pressure on Dhaka would cut down.

Munibur, even so, additional that they experienced no approach to maximize manpower at Jatrabari stage to control additional targeted visitors.