Severe traffic congestion near Jamuna Bridge, vehicles crawling along a 25km stretch

Although traffic congestion was not severe along the Gazipur section of the Dhaka–Tangail Highway, homebound passengers are suffering from heavy traffic around the Jamuna Bridge area in Tangail. Until 3 pm today, Thursday, vehicles were moving intermittently along an approximately 25km stretch from the Jamuna Bridge to the Tangail town bypass. However, no major congestion was seen in the Chandra area of Gazipur after noon.

To ease congestion around the Jamuna Bridge area, from 11 am to 1:30 pm, vehicles heading toward northern Bangladesh were allowed to use both lanes. After that, traffic in the area was permitted only through the northbound lane.

At around 9 am today, long lines of vehicles were seen on the highway. Buses and trucks were standing still in the same place. Truck driver Motahar Hossain, who was stuck in traffic in the Bikramhati area of Tangail Sadar Upazila, said he had been waiting there for nearly an hour. He had left Dhaka at 11 pm the previous night and had faced traffic congestion throughout the journey.

Nazrul Islam from Sirajganj, who was stuck in traffic in the Pauli area of Kalihati Uupazila, said that he had arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at midnight from Malaysia. He then hired a taxi and set off for Sirajganj. It took him nine hours just to reach Tangail.

The suffering caused by the traffic jam worsened due to the morning rain. Passengers travelling by truck were getting drenched. Fazlu Mia, a garment factory worker from Savar traveling on a truck near the Tangail town bypass area, said, “We’ve been suffering in traffic all night. On top of that, we got soaked in the rain and are exhausted.”

Due to the traffic jam, female passengers are facing even greater hardship. They are obliged to go to nearby houses along the highway to use restrooms.

According to sources at the Jamuna Bridge Authority, the congestion has been caused by excessive traffic pressure. Under normal circumstances, around 17,000 to 18,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily. However, since the Eid holidays began, traffic volume has increased to more than three times that number.

According to toll plaza sources, to ease the traffic congestion, northbound vehicles were allowed to cross the bridge using both lanes in two phases for a total of nearly three hours and forty-five minutes. From 4:35 am to 6:40 am, both lanes were used for northbound traffic for 2 hours and 5 minutes, and again from 12:10 am to 1:50 am for 1 hour and 40 minutes. This reduced the pressure somewhat, but traffic later began building up again. As a result, from 11 am onward, northbound vehicles were once again allowed to use both lanes.

After two days of severe traffic congestion and suffering, some relief returned to the highways in Gazipur from this afternoon onward. At present, there is no major traffic jam on the Gazipur section of the Dhaka–Tangail Highway, and the highway has become considerably less crowded.

From Tuesday afternoon until Wednesday morning, a huge rush of homebound travelers created heavy pressure on the two highways in Gazipur. This caused long traffic jams as well as a transport shortage. In particular, traffic congestion persisted overnight along a 20- to 25-kilometer stretch of the Dhaka–Tangail Highway. Passengers had to wait for hours just to travel a few kilometers.

However, although traffic pressure remained until 11 am on Wednesday, the situation began returning to normal quickly after noon. Vehicle movement on the highway is now much more comfortable.

Over the past two days, the Chandra area of the Dhaka–Tangail Highway had been the center of the worst suffering. But a different picture was seen there during an on-site visit on Wednesday afternoon. The usual traffic congestion was absent, and there was no transport shortage either. Passengers were easily boarding their preferred vehicles and heading toward their destinations.

Passenger Kabir Hossain said, “Today I came to Chandra and saw no traffic jam; in fact, there are more vehicles than passengers. Although there is no problem here, I heard there is still some congestion before the Jamuna Bridge.”

Kamrul Islam, driver of a Himachal Paribahan bus bound for Rajshahi, said that today’s pressure was not even one-tenth of yesterday’s. “Yesterday the bus filled with passengers within 10 minutes. Today, even after an hour, it still isn’t full,” he said.

Saugatul Alam, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the Nawzor Highway Police Station, said that homebound travelers are returning home with much greater comfort today. He added that despite the improved situation, extra police personnel are still on duty in the Chandra area.