400,000 cars a day turn Plovdiv’s traffic into hell

by times news cr

2024-10-04 04:19:28

  • After 18 months, the city must have a bypass that will take the traffic from the Rhodopes and Asenovgrad to the highways “Trakia” and “Maritsa”
  • Construction of new road links and facilities on two levels must be started urgently

In March 2026, Plovdiv will be able to get some air from the heavy traffic. Then the South-East bypass of the city should be completed and put into operation.

On September 25 of this year a start was made for the construction of the long-awaited 5-kilometer section that will connect Yagodovsko with Asenovgradsko shose from the section of “Skobeleva Maika”. Thus, the traffic coming from the Rhodopes and Asenovgrad on the way to the Trakia highway will not pass through the second largest city, but will be taken to the highway in transit.

The term is 18 months, but from now on, the Deputy Mayor for Construction Eng. Tosho Pashov makes an arrangement that

it is unlikely to happen in the specified time

“Work will be done in stages,” he explained.

This detour will partially solve the problem of Plovdiv, because it will transfer the transit from the municipalities of Kuklen, Asenovgrad and Rhodope to the highways “Trakia” and “Maritsa”, and from there to the checkpoint Kapitan Andreevo”. The investment is BGN 41 million, at this stage the state has secured BGN 9 million.

Plovdiv is literally suffocating from the huge traffic, which is getting heavier every year. “On average, about 300 cars are registered in the city per day. According to data from the tax office of the municipality, as of September 15, there are 212,000 motor vehicles registered on the territory of Plovdiv. At the same time, between 150,000 and 200,000 cars enter every day from the nearby municipalities and from the country”, Engineer Pashov pointed out in a report at the 10th anniversary conference “Road Safety”, which was held in Plovdiv. Thus, their number increases to 400,000.

There is no way that with so many cars the city is not paralyzed. “Current streets and boulevards, when built, were designed to accommodate, say, 70,000 cars. And as we can see, today they are six times more. But

the streets have not become wider and this explains the traffic jams”,

point out police officers.

“Actually, there is a way to solve the problem – claims the deputy mayor. – by expanding “Komatevsko shose”, “Peshtersko shose” and the entrance-exit arteries that accumulate traffic.” “For this, however, huge funds are needed”, added engineer Pashov.

According to him, such extensions are included in the general plan for the organization of traffic, but for now they are only on paper.

There are in the city

26 stationary speed cameras

and traffic measurement. Through them, the traffic flows are surveyed and the permeability at the intersections is changed. According to the data of the system, in certain time zones about 4,000 cars pass through some of them per hour.

“The city cannot respond to the rate of increase in traffic and traffic jams are becoming more and more frequent, which is a prerequisite for road accidents,” commented engineer Pashov.

He believes that the construction of new road connections and facilities on two levels should begin as a matter of urgency. “The Municipality of Plovdiv has ready projects for connecting the Trakia and Yuzhen districts with an overpass over the railway lines at Tsar Simeon Street.”

New bridge over Maritsa river,

which has been talked about for several five-year plans, would connect the “Western” and “Northern” regions. The new “Moder-Tsarevets” breakthrough now provides a direct connection between “West” and “South”.

“Connecting the neighborhoods will complete the so-called middle ring, which will move the traffic out of the central part of the city,” the deputy mayor is convinced and recommends thinking in this direction. Where possible, existing boulevards should be widened and one-way traffic should be created.

Congestion is also the reason for the frequent accidents, where Plovdiv is at the top of the statistics. There are many factors for them – the condition of the car, the driver and the road. These three components determine the intensity of transport accidents.

“If drivers take into account the road situation and follow the rules, this would lead to a reduction in accidents. I was amazed by the statistics. For March this year we have recorded 7.5 million entries and exits from Plovdiv by car. The road network cannot take such a load”, said the deputy mayor categorically.

The economic zones created around Plovdiv also contribute to the traffic load. “The people who work in them actually live in the regional city and travel every day to the enterprises. And there is no public transport there. They are forced to use private cars, which generates major traffic jams.

If satellite towns are made around the economic zones,

the workers will live there and there won’t be this load”, Eng. Pashov is convinced.

He did not miss the difficult situation with the highway “Trakia” in the section Sofia – Plovdiv. “Economic, commercial, cultural and historical travel is intensively developing between the two largest cities in our country. Driving is a nightmare. A third lane should be considered in order to reduce the risk of trauma and accidents”, says engineer Tosho Pashov.

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