Motorists demand ‘fish bellies’ on Ring Road

PESHAWAR: The villagers on both sides of Ring Road and motorists have expressed concern over frequent accidents on the busy route and demanded the authorities to introduce ‘fish bellies’ in U-turns to avoid traffic mishaps.

Road accidents happen frequently on the Ring Road from Hayatabad up to Grand Trunk Road and further towards Charsadda Road and Pajjagi Road due to speedy traffic.

There are few traffic wardens deployed on the busy road to ensure smooth flow of traffic.

Besides, there are neither any speed bumps ahead of these U-turns nor any other measures taken to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and prevent accidents.

“Speed bumps were introduced at some of the U-turns at the request of the villagers who were fed up with the daily road accidents, claiming lives of locals and seriously injuring others. However, these bumps were removed a couple of months ago on the directives of a former chief secretary of the province,” a villager said.

He added the speed bumps have now re-surfaced in all the places from where these had been removed. However, there is no speed bump ahead of any U-turn on Ring Road where these are needed.

Over 50 per cent of the city’s traffic has already been diverted to the Ring Road since the start of the construction work on the Bus Rapid Transit project last year. However, no measures were taken to avoid accidents, especially on U-turns there.

Many drivers suggested that ‘fish bellies’ like those introduced on GT Road and the University Road a few years ago should be made on all U-turns on Ring Road.

The motorists and villagers on both sides of the Ring Road have been demanding the introduction ‘fish bellies’ in recent years but the government and the concerned department never heeded the matter.