Construction of four flyovers causing traffic chaos in Yangon
Yangon's regional government is working on four flyovers on the city's major daily commute roads - Pyay Road, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road and Baynt Naung Road - to try to reduce traffic problems forecast in 2011.
Construction on all four began at the same time last year, resulting in heavy traffic jams on the city’s major routes as commuters rely on six 6-lane roads for daily travel.
Former industry minister Soe Thein told the media at the end of 2011, “The flyover construction will be [completed] in four months to solve increasing traffic.”
Shwe Taung Development Company, FMI Group and Capital Development are the construction companies hired by the government to build the flyovers with the state budget of 49.306 billion kyats. (US$60 million.)
It is now obvious to Yangon residents the deadline for the projects promised by the minister will not be met. Later, the Yangon chief minister instructed the Shwetaung Company to halt work on the Hledan Flyover project in December because of the heavy traffic problems it was causing.
Shwetaung said the construction would now be accomplished by the end of April 2013, while FMI and Capital Development are saying they need more than a year to finish their projects.
The work on Hledan and Bayint Naung is causing an average of two hours’ delay to commuters.
At Bayint Naung, a two-level flyover has been redesigned due to location issues, and now work has begun on Bayint Naung junction where the heaviest traffic occurs.
“Due to the traffic jams around the city, I have to catch the bus two hours before my office opens,” Aung Kyaw, who lives in Ahlone and works at Bahan, said. The two townships are only 8 kilometres from each other. “I can have a very long nap while taking a bus to my school,” a student from Government Technical College who lives in Tamwe township, said. The college is located in Hlinethaya, at least 30 kms from the city. The student claims his trip to school by bus takes over two and half hours.
Traffic jams have also led to drivers becoming impatient and breaking the rules constantly.
Yangon’s traffic police began cracking down on motorists who break traffic laws last week, imposing heavy fines and other penalties for traffic violations.
