The Public Works Department Minister has now announced that the new Zuari bridge, which is currently under construction, will be completed by December next year. The latest statements from the minister reveal that 50 per cent of the work on the bridge and that 70 per cent of the approach road work have been completed. From a lay person’s observation, these figures appear to be on the higher side, but the minister’s assurance is that the work is going on at a fast pace and that the government is confident that the bridge will be ready in 12 months from now. That is a long time, but given the traffic congestion currently being experienced on the route, all commuters will gladly hope that the bridge will be completed by that date.
Even if the bridge takes another 12 months to be ready, it still means another full year of traffic snarls on the Agassaim-Cortalim stretch, where at various times of the day vehicles crawl forward as the traffic slows down due to the ongoing works. To reduce the traffic jams, the government must put in place a system whereby the traffic flow is smoothened to a certain extent. It is understandable and acceptable that there will be delays due to the construction work, but can these be reduced? Besides, is there any plan for the year-end traffic increase that annually holds up traffic on this stretch? Or are the authorities going to cross that bridge when they come to it?
Just recently, the traffic police had told Herald that wherever possible on the route they divert traffic, that police personnel are deployed where required, but that this hardly makes a difference as the number of vehicles on the route have increased tremendously. According to the traffic police, about 40 vehicles cross the bridge every minute on each side. They had also said that a minor accident on the route, leads to a queue of cars that then takes a long time to ease. This makes it absolutely imperative to have the new bridge ready as quickly as possible, and 12 months more is a long time indeed.
But, largely, much of the traffic congestion is due to the ongoing bridge work, as this had led to diversions, to service roads that are in bad condition and to narrowing of lanes. The bridge is already exceeding its scheduled completion date. When the foundation stone for it was laid, it was scheduled to be completed in 36 months, which would mean that it should have been thrown open by the end of the current month. The December 2019 deadline had been announced even a few months ago, when it was obvious to those who commute on the route that this could not happen. The deadline has now been extended by another 12 months, but the possibility that the new bridge will indeed be thrown open for traffic by this time next year, despite the assurance by the minister, is remote.
Until that time, the congestion will continue. Traffic is still being diverted at night, with commuters having to drive another 21 kilometres so that the wings of the bridge can be set in place. To avoid this diversion there was a service road proposed to be constructed alongside the railway track, but no work on this has started. There had been deadlines fixed for this but these too have not been met. With the authorities delaying taking decisions on the service road, the coming weeks on this stretch could possibly lead to long traffic delays that could spill over to the next year.
