The authorities have temporarily implemented a one-way traffic system on the Bangabandhu Bridge, to deal with the huge pressure of vehicles before the Eid festival.
As multiple vehicles broke down on the bridge at night, a 14-kilometer gridlock was created on the east end of the bridge. Later, the bridge was turned one-way for two hours from 6:00 am, allowing vehicles to travel towards the northern districts through all two lanes of the bridge. It eased up the situation to some extent.
There was a nearly eight-kilometer queue of vehicles at the bridge’s toll plaza until the filing of this report around 10:00 am in the morning. However, the situation was improving fast.
Rafiqul Islam Sarkar, a traffic inspector of Tangail, said vehicles were now crossing the bridge quickly, and the traffic pressure from Dhaka was reducing. He anticipated that the situation would return to normal within a short period of time.
While talking to Prothom Alo, Jahangir Hossain, a passenger traveling to Rajshahi, disclosed his ordeal at a CNG station in Elenga of Kalihati Upazila.
He left Dhaka at 10:00 pm. There were traffic jams at various points along the way, and it took nine and a half hours to reach Elenga, a journey that usually takes two and a half to three hours.
According to Bangabandhu Bridge sources, some 18,000 to 20,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily in normal time. However, the traffic pressure has surged manifold due to the Eid rush. A total of 51,951 vehicles crossed the bridge in 24 hours since 12:00 am on Friday, generating a toll revenue of Tk 36.53 million.