Poor traffic engineering system troubling motorists

PESHAWAR: Poor traffic engineering system and ad hoc measures by the traffic police on most of the U-turns on the Ring Road and some other major routes not only trouble thousands of motorists but also result in accidents daily.The first U-turns from GT Road and Kohat Road are two to three kilometers away.

“Many motorists, auto-rickshaw drivers, bike-riders and others take the wrong lane to reach destinations. Such U-turns used to be at a longer distance in areas where the service road on both sides are connected to the main Road so the motorists and bikers will have an option to use the service road if they want to go nearby,” said a resident from Kohat Road.

He said the U-turn from Kohat Road towards Hayatabad is almost three kilometers away while the one towards GT Road is also around 1.5 kilometers.Interestingly, two U-turns near Canal Road are hardly 400 meters from each other.

On the other hand, two U-turns on the Ring Road on both sides of the busy GT Road and Kohat Road are kilometers away from each other. “When a taxi driver, motorist, or anyone wants to go Landi Arbab from the Ring Road, he is to take a U-turn near the Canal Road and the travel from both sides is 4 to 5 kilometers. Also, if someone wants to go to Garhi Qamardin from the Ring Road, the travel on both sides is over 3 kilometers,” said a villager. He said many motorists, bikers, auto rickshaws take the wrong lane which causes traffic accidents on many occasions.

The same is the case with villagers on both sides of the GT Road. The U-turns on the Ring Road on both sides of GT Road are miles away and drivers have to take the wrong lane to reach Chughulpura, Sardar Garhi and other villages.

Petrol and CNG are expensive and many drivers can’t afford it because of their low income. “The Peshawar Development Authority and the traffic police and should understand the problem and either connect the service roads on both sides to the main Kohat Road and GT Road or make the U-turn within 500 meters on both sides,” a motorist suggested.

Besides, proper fish bellies should be introduced on all the U-turns that will help reduce traffic congestion and avoid traffic accidents.Fish bellies were introduced on several U-turns on the Ring Road a couple of years back to ensure a smooth flow of traffic without being intercepted by the vehicles taking the turn.

However, most of these fish bellies do not exist anymore and motorists taking U-turns intercept the speedy traffic that causes several accidents. The Peshawar Development Authority, traffic police and other departments need to take measures for improved traffic engineering as well as to ensure easy access to motorists on both sides of GT Road, Kohat Road and other major routes.