Traffic congestion in Peshawar: Signal-free corridors proposed

Construction of signal-free corridors and shifting of all bus stands and vegetable markets out of Peshawar city could substantially ease traffic pressure on the city roads.

Peshawar SP (traffic) Asif Iqbal said this while speaking at ‘Meet the Press Programme’ of Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday. He said that a proposal to install closed circuit cameras at prominent spots across the district was under consideration to check performance of the traffic police.

He said that for pedestrians the government should focus on building overhead bridges instead of underpasses because the former could be built in the shortest possible time with minimum problems for traffic.

Mr Iqbal said that enforcement, education and engineering were three essential things for controlling traffic problems and the police could focus on the former two points. He said that engineering department was not under the police and that was why the lack of liaison created difficulties.

“We have no engineer to help control the system and all such problems are seen by the Peshawar Development Authority,” he said and added that engineering department was supposed to play key role in the system otherwise the problems would continue.


The main problems, he said, were created due to lack of coordination among the relevant departments like Regional Transport Authority, Provincial Transport Authority, Peshawar Development Authority and traffic police.

Referring to the pathetic condition of roads, the SP suggested their improvement because the number of vehicles was growing with each passing day and the roads’ capacity remained the same.

He said that construction of new service roads and improvement of main roads, including Dalazak Road, City Circular Road, Peshtakhara Road, Jamrud Road and Railways Road, was essential to streamline traffic flow in the city. He said that at many places the U-turns had been closed under compulsion to ensure smooth traffic flow.

The SP also called for construction of parking plazas and said that there was shortage of parking lots in the city and cantonment areas, and people had to park their vehicles on roads. He said that parking of vehicles on Mall Road was restricted due to movement of VIPs and security reasons.

For improvement of traffic management, the official suggested construction of roundabouts near Tata Park, at Board Bazaar, Ring Road linking Charsadda Road, and FC Chowk besides removal of encroachments from all busy roads.

Answering questions, the SP said that the city’s population and traffic volume were increasing fast and the roads were not expanded, which aggravated the civic problems. About military checkpoints, he said, that these were essential in the prevailing situation to overcome terrorism.