Dhaka not ready for traffic pressure

Automobiles stuck in website traffic congestion on the street approaching Uttara close to Dhaka airport on Wednesday. — Sony Ramany

With the opening of the substantially-awaited Padma Bridge, the visitors congestion in the cash Dhaka is possible to grow to be severer due to a deficiency of scheduling and initiatives, authorities officials and specialists stated.

The Padma Bridge is aimed at improving conversation among Dhaka and 21 south-western districts, but urban transportation system experts say website traffic gridlock in and close to Dhaka could produce an obstacle to achieving the aim.

Ring streets all around the funds need to have been formulated when constructing the bridge to cope with more visitors actions in the funds, they reported.

Diversion of targeted visitors, they included, by ring roads encompassing the funds would have been the most successful option to the new circumstance.

Bangladesh Bridge Authority has applied the 6.15-kilometre road-cum-railway bridge among Mawa issue in Munshiganj and Janjira point in Shariatpur to connect the capital with the south-western districts of the region.

Key minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the bridge on June 25 and it will be open to website traffic at 6:00am the future day.

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

Roadways and Highways Section Dhaka Zone additional chief engineer Md Sabuj Uddin Khan informed New Age that massive congestion may possibly be noticed at Jatrabari stage.

At the most important exit point at Chankharpool there remained only two toll booths though there really should be 6 more booths, he stated, adding that site visitors congestion has presently grow to be a regular scene there.

‘This scenario will switch severer when the Padma Bridge will be inaugurated and the flyover can be packed until Postogola Bridge,’ he additional.

Bangladesh College of Engineering Technological know-how professor and a previous Incident Analysis Institute director Md Shamsul Hoque explained to New Age that the  Padma Bridge would have a direct influence on the Dhaka website traffic scenario.

In Dhaka, additional people today would now appear from these districts, more non-public and products-laden autos would appear and even some motor vehicles would cross Dhaka to use Padma Bridge rather of working with the Dhaka-Aricha corridor, he stated.

‘This immediate connectivity will multiply the website traffic congestion in the money,’ he explained.

Dhaka has previously been grappling with hefty targeted visitors congestion although new targeted visitors from the bridge will trigger congestion at 10 gateways of the funds, which includes at Buriganga Bridge, Bosila and Hanif flyover, Shamsul said.

He emphasised the completion of ring roads encompassing the funds.

‘These roads should have been completed previously. The building of these roads  is now challenging at present thanks to land acquisition,’ he explained, introducing, ‘not only for the bridge but also for bypassing automobiles from Dhaka these streets at peripheries are incredibly vital.’

The Revised Strategic Transport Approach for 2015 to 2035, which was authorised in August 2016, envisaged separating intra-funds targeted visitors move from inter-district traffic by the development of a 73km inner ring highway, 108km middle ring highway and 129km outer ring street passing by way of the capital’s flood flow zones.

The inner ring highway would deliver a new route to commuters about the cash, Teramukh-Abdullahpur-Gabtoli-Rayerbazar-Babu Bazar-Sadarghat-Fatullah-Chashara-Signboard-Shimrail-Demra-Eastern Bypass and on the way stretches of it would pass by the Balu River in the east and the Burignga River in the south.

The center ring highway has been planned to develop a route alongside Outpura-Dhaka Bypass-Bhulta-Kanchpur-Jhilmil-Western Bypass.

Prepared to run together the capital’s outer periphery the outer ring highway would make a new site visitors route linking Hemayetpur-Kalakandi-Madanpur-Danga-Bypail-Gazipur.

SM Salehuddin, the then government director of Dhaka Transportation Coordination Board, instructed New Age that when the authorities had began to assemble the Padma Bridge they really should have also began to put together other infrastructures to facilitate the vehicular motion in the direction of the capital.

‘Dhaka will face troubles from two sides – improved visitors congestion and existence of large folks coming by crossing the bridge day by day,’ he observed.

Salehuddin stated that as the bridge would lower the journey time from 21 districts to Dhaka appreciably numerous people would check out to enter Dhaka and return on the similar working day expanding the existence of folks and motor vehicles in the cash.

Salehuddin, who is also just one of the consultants of the Bus Route Rationalisation committee, prompt the development of interior and outer ring roads immediately to bypass the strain of vehicles from Dhaka.

Permission for cars to enter the capital, running the range of items-carrying trucks coming from other districts and ban on opening any new market, places of work and instructional establishments in Dhaka and relocating distinctive amenities to other districts may possibly aid, he added.

Jahangirnagar College urban and regional scheduling professor Akter Mahmud reported that when the bridge would be inaugurated the amount of autos coming from south-western districts would improve for Dhaka and its adjacent districts.

Akter, also a previous president of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners, reported that the governing administration ought to establish interior and in particular the middle ring roadways right away to bypass the cars.

He pointed out that as soon as the 4-lane up-gradation works on the Dhaka-Aricha highway were concluded strain on autos would raise even more in the money.

Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority govt director Neelima Akhter said that they had proposed developing ring streets in the Revised Strategic Transportation Strategy even though no investigation or feasibility studies had been performed to his close so considerably.

The Roadways and Highways Division was operating with the internal ring road but until now no funding source was verified, she claimed.

‘We are likely to hold a conference with all stakeholders on June 19 to examine the transport system, targeted visitors diversion and preparation right after the Padma Bridge inauguration,’ Neelima said.

Streets and Highways Department Dhaka Zone extra main engineer Md Sabuj Uddin Khan reported that they experienced done a feasibility analyze to build the internal ring highway in 2017.

Considering the fact that then RHD began to search for cash from donor companies but until now no donor company agreed to finance the job, he mentioned.

RHD more secretary Md Yousub Ali Mollah explained that a conference of the road transport and bridges ministry on June 9 directed the section to maintenance the connecting roads close to Dhaka to bypass the traffic.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s more commissioner for traffic, Md Munibur Rahman, mentioned that they had some programs to regulate the targeted visitors that would arrive by way of Padma Bridge.

They would divert the Chattogram-bound motor vehicles by means of Postogola Bridge and then to a connecting street in direction of Narayanganj by way of Pagla, he stated.

For the duration of peak hrs, he said, they would divert Motijheel/Ramna-sure autos by roadways at Doyaganj under the Mayor Hanif Flyover.

The flyover would carry the autos to distinct directions like Nimtoli, Gabtoli, Motijheel and Bishwa Street, he ongoing.

Goods-laden automobiles would operate all through off-peak hours through the town though they would also allow for some inter-district buses to cross the metropolis during these several hours, he claimed.

The further commissioner hoped that when an underneath-construction bridge on the river Sitalaykhya would be done the pressure on Dhaka would lessen.

Munibur, however, additional that they had no approach to raise manpower at Jatrabari place to manage further website traffic.