Rangpur is the primary commercial and educational hub of the northern region. As this densely populated city expands through urbanization, traffic management and road capacity have not scaled proportionally.
Consequently, daily traffic congestion has become an everyday suffering for the residents of Rangpur. From working professionals and students to general pedestrians, everyone is gasping for breath amidst the city's severe gridlocks.
Major Hotspots of Traffic Congestion: Where is the Heavy Traffic? Severe traffic congestion persists from morning till night at several specific points across Rangpur city. Among the primary locations are:
Jahaj Company Mor: Being the busiest and principal commercial junction of the city, this area constantly faces intense traffic due to various speeds of vehicles, rickshaws, and hawkers occupying the footpaths.
Public Library Mor and Payra Chattar: Surrounded by educational institutions, government offices, and shopping malls, this area frequently experiences long traffic jams due to the excessive pressure of vehicles.
Shapla Chattar: Known as an entry point, this intersection regularly witnesses congestion driven by heavy vehicles heading towards the bus terminal and poorly planned rickshaw stands.
Modern Mor: Located near Rangpur Medical College and various educational institutions, this zone experiences massive pressure from vehicles carrying students and patients.
Nishbetganj and Lalbagh Area: Traffic congestion takes a severe turn at these points during peak hours due to random and unauthorized roadside parking.
Are Foot Over-Bridges an Effective Solution to Traffic Jams? Demands for constructing foot over-bridges often arise as a remedy for traffic congestion. However, the question remains—will building foot over-bridges actually reduce traffic in the context of Rangpur? Opinions from urban planners and experts are quite clear on this matter.
Professor Dr. Moazzem Hossain, an urban expert and former director of BUET’s Accident Research Institute (ARI), believes that foot over-bridges primarily help pedestrians avoid accidents rather than directly reducing traffic congestion. He stated, "The key to resolving traffic jams is maintaining vehicle mobility on roads and evicting illegal occupations. Foot over-bridges can only make pedestrian road crossings safer, but they cannot eliminate traffic jams unless vehicle pressure and chaos on the road are reduced."
On the other hand, Md. Elias Pramanik, a researcher working on communication and urban development in the Rangpur region and a teacher in the Department of Sociology at Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, said, "People in our country are generally reluctant to use foot over-bridges unless they are equipped with escalators or lifts and backed by strict monitoring by traffic police. Unplanned installation of bridges in Rangpur will yield no permanent result; instead, pedestrians may continue crossing at street level at great risk. Modernization of the signaling system and strict enforcement at zebra crossings would be much more fruitful."
Ways to Overcome According to experts, merely building foot over-bridges will not provide a permanent solution to Rangpur's traffic problem. It requires a set of coordinated steps:
Eviction of illegal parking and hawkers: Clearing rickshaw stands and footpaths from the main roads.
Modernization of traffic signals: Installing automated signal boundaries and closed-circuit cameras instead of manual methods.
Construction of bypass roads: Ensuring full utilization of ring roads or bypasses so heavy freight trucks and buses do not have to pass through the city center.
Raising public awareness: Conducting awareness activities involving students and citizens to cultivate a culture of obeying traffic laws.
To envision Rangpur as a modern, congestion-free, and beautiful city, ensuring discipline in traffic management and strict enforcement of the law—rather than just infrastructural development—is the greatest demand of the time.
— Daily Best News Desk • Fearless in the search for truth
Reported by Rangpur Sadar Correspondent • Edited by the Daily Best News desk. Send corrections to [email protected].
