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Roundabouts demolished to better traffic flow, visibility

The city has more than 20 roundabouts, most of them up for demolition

Sultana Rahman
In a bid to streamline the movement of vehicles, Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB) is razing major roundabouts that officials identified as barriers to traffic and visibility.
"The work to be complete by June wilb add speed to traffic flow," said Quamrul Islam Siddique, executive director of Dhaka Urban Transport Project (DUTP), a DTCB project.
The DTCB removed roundabouts at Gulshan-1 and 2, Shahbagh, Manik Nagar, Matsya Bhaban crossing and
National Press Club crossing, where authorities will install electronic traffic signals replacing the manual system to reduce traffic jam.
"Controlling the runaway traffic build-up at intersections is all but impossible for police," he said.
The city is home to more than 20 roundabouts, most of them up for demolition. But a decision to remove the roundabout at Sonargaon crossing was changed under political pressure, as it is a landmark fountain signifying Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), sources said.
Most roundabouts were built in the 1960s to 1970s, when the population of Dhaka, transport modes and numberofvehicles were limited.
"Butwchavcno option now but to remove the roundabouts to cut traffic jam," Siddique said, blaming the then city planners for ignoring the future population boom in Dhaka.
"After the roundabouts are removed, vehicles will take less time to cross intersections and traffic congestion will be reduced. Sufferings of commuters will be minimised too," Siddique hoped.
"At least four policemen control as
many roads to the roundabout but it is sometimes difficult for them to see each other across," a DTCB official said, askingnottobenamed.
Roundabouts arc suitable for managing traffic only in intermittent low-density traffic pattern where discipline enables drivers to cross at right angles without policing, he said. "Nobody cares about the needs of traffic management or road safety."
Experts said billboards and bushes on the roundabouts — not the structures themselves — reduced visibility and blamed traffic jam on the runawaytraffic system.