Pindi to have Urban Traffic Control System in June

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Land-marking, wiring completed
* System to be handed over to Rawalpindi Development Authority on May 6

By Aamir Yasin

RAWALPINDI: Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) will install Urban Traffic Control System (UTCS) from Marir Chowk to Double Road, Shamsabad, in June to ease the flow of traffic on the busiest Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road and its link roads.

Requesting anonymity, a senior official of RDA told Daily Times that the Rs 36 million worth of system, which would be handed over to the authority on May 6, had been purchased from a private company with five-year warranty. Land marking and wiring work has already been completed.

The official said that the new system would coordinate traffic signals through a centrally located computer. The control room would be established in the RDA offices located at Liaquat Bagh to monitor traffic congestion.

He said eight closed-circuit TV cameras (CCTVs) would also be installed at Marir Chowk, Liaquat Bagh Chowk, Committee Chowk, Kohati Bazaar Chowk, Chandani Chowk, Rehmanabad Chowk, 6th Road Chowk and Shamsabad Chowk to update the control room on traffic situation and enable the officials to guide the motorists to less busy and congested roads.

He said the new system would also be installed at the Mall, Kutchery Chowk, Peshawar Road, Airport Road, Raja Bazaar, Commercial Market and other main roads.

The new system would save the precious time and fuel of the commuters and one such system has already been installed at Liaquat Bagh Chowk on experimental basis.

The new system is being used in developed countries to reduce delays and the frequency of vehicles to stop. The official said that there was urgent need for introduction of a new traffic system in the city, as 100,000 vehicles daily used Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road creating snarl-ups.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg11_1