Dhaka dwellers and commuters have suffered immensely as traffic came to a standstill on the Airport Road. Thousands were stuck for hours, and many missed appointments, meetings, and even flights. The trouble began around Wednesday midnight, when a massive rush of devotees to reach the Biswa Ijtema ground, along the busy Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway in Tongi, started to peak. The narrowed-down road in front of the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport due to the construction work for the Bus Rapid Transit added to the problem.
The queue of vehicles was 17km long on the south end, up to Mohakhali. The nearby roads came to a standstill due to the cascading effect. Many commuters spent several hours on the highway as vehicles were only inching forward during the morning rush.
There was a time when commuters suffered traffic congestion only on the main city streets, but now it starts right from one’s doorstep. Traffic jams have turned daily trips into nightmares. According to a World Bank report, in the last 10 years, the average traffic speed in Dhaka has dropped from 21 kilometres per hour (kmph) to 7 kmph, and by 2035, the speed might drop to 4kmph, which is slower than the walking speed. Researchers say dealing with heavy traffic can cause serious physical and mental problems, including stress and aggression resulting in road rage.
In order to ease traffic congestion, the government has undertaken some long-term projects, including three ring roads to deviate traffic from the city centre, five metro rail lines, two rapid bus routes, and 1,200 kilometres of new roadways. Some of these projects are already at different stages of implementation. But importantly, all this might prove insufficient unless we decentralise Dhaka. The city is already overpopulated and its infrastructure doesn’t match the scale of its population. Every year, almost half a million add to this figure and this pressure of the population is making its traffic condition worse by the day.