University Road a traffic nightmare

Red Line BRT project causes massive logjams that worsen at nighttime when eateries open

KARACHI:

One of the busiest arteries of the metropolitan city, University Road, has become a nightmare to travel on as you get caught up in worst traffic jams after every few yards. While one track of the road on either side has been eaten up by the Red Line mass transit project, encroachments pop up in the night making the commute even unbearable.

It takes motorists hours to a distance otherwise they can travel in minutes because they get stuck in traffic jams for hours and hours. More concerning is the fact that the situation might continue for two whole years until the Red Line project is completed.

University Road is one of the busiest roads in the city as tens of thousands of people travel on it daily. It was in pretty bad shape until last year when the government decided to rebuild it to mitigate the sufferings of commuters. People heaved a sigh of relief when it was rebuilt at a cost of Rs.880 million, but their happiness did not last long.

Now, one track of the road on either way has been taken over for the Red Line project, bringing back nightmare for motorists and commuters. It usually took 15 minutes to travel from Jail Chowringhee to Hassan Square and from Hassan Square to Safoora Chowringhee, but now this distance takes up to one and a half hour to cover during rush hours.

Moreover, a lot of encroachments pop up on both sides of the road from Hassan Square to Nipa Chowringhee in the night which makes traffic more chaotic and vehicles move forward bumper-to-bumper at snail’s pace. According to conservative estimates, 10 to 15% people use University Road for commuting, but 75% citizens face massive difficulties.

The traffic police seem helpless as they have no strategy to control the traffic. The Red Line project is likely to be completed by 2025 and until then citizens will continue to go through this agony every single day.

The 26km-long Red Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project will have with 24 stations running from Safoora Chowrangi to MA Jinnah Road. Its major portion comprises on University Road which is one of the major arterial of Karachi and part of signal free corridor. Number of Government offices buildings, universities and educational institutes are located on this road, making it educational hub of Karachi. Some of prominent traffic attracter on University Road includes: Civic Centre, NIPA, AG-Sindh, SSGC HQ, University of Karachi, NED University, Sir Syed University, Usman Institute, Dawood Engineering University, SUPARO HQ, DOW University Hospital and many more.

Since presence of these institutions, ranked University Road as one of the most person trip attracting zone of Karachi and warranting its significance for a mass transit route.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2022.