Dhaka-Tangail-Bangabandhu Bridge highway jammed at night, free in the day
The Dhaka-Tangail-Bangabandhu Bridge highway saw massive traffic congestion Saturday night, but things were back to normal on Sunday morning. In the afternoon the traffic pressure was even less than normal and homeward bound people were travelling with ease.
With Eid ahead, Bangabandhu Bridge has been seeing many times more traffic than usual over the past few days.
Sources at the Bangabandhu Bridge toll plaza said that in the 24 hours from 6:00 Saturday morning till 6:00 Sunday morning, 32,713 vehicles had crossed the bridge. On normal days this would be 12,000 to 13,000. On Friday, from 6:00 in the morning till Saturday 6:00 in the morning, 33,912 vehicles had crossed the bridge. As a result, at various times on Friday and Saturday, the tailback stretched out to 25km to 30km.
The passengers suffered as the vehicles inched along. However, the traffic thinned out since Sunday morning and there was hardly any traffic jam. By 11:00am, the highway was free of congestion.
A trip at around 12:00 noon from the Tangail bypass intersection up till Bangabandhu Bridge saw even less traffic that normal. The vehicles could speed along the empty highway without having to stop. There was a line of vehicles stretched for about 2km from the bridge’s toll plaza as the vehicles had to stop to pay the toll. But they didn’t have to wait for long.
At the Elenga CNG station, microbus passenger Habibur Rahman travelling to Bogura, said it took him less than three hours to reach Elenga from Dhaka. They didn’t face any traffic jam. On previous Eids they had to wait for hours in traffic congestion. Driver of a Rajshahi-bound bus, Selim Miah, said that there was no traffic pressure on the highway since Sunday morning.
In-charge of the Elenga highway police outpost, Yasir Arafat, said if the vehicles could proceed smoothly up till Sirajganj, it was unlikely that there would be any traffic jam. However, he added, the traffic pressure may increase again from Sunday night.