Flyover Plan Urged for Budaiya

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Daily traffic jams at the Budaiya intersection leave roads into Madinat Salman clogged, with an MP calling for a flyover and fewer traffic lights to cut the queues.

MP Jalal Kadhem urged the Works Ministry to study plans for an overpass at the junction, along with wider entrances and exits, new U-turn lanes and changes to the road layout.

He said traffic from four main roads was being squeezed into two lanes, leaving drivers stuck in long queues throughout the day and into the evening.

‘Budaiya intersection has become one of the Northern Governorate’s worst junctions for traffic,’ Mr Kadhem said.

He wants the flyover considered as part of the work currently being carried out on Budaiya Highway rather than left for a later stage.

Mr Kadhem also wants changes on Janabiya Highway and roads beside Madinat Salman, where he said closely spaced traffic lights were worsening the queues.

‘The number of traffic lights and how close they are to one another is making the daily congestion worse,’ he said.

Some of those lights should be removed where engineers deem it safe, using free-flow junctions, flyovers or U-turn lanes instead.

He also called for wider roads leading into the Budaiya junction and a new lane layout to cut stops and crossing traffic.

Mr Kadhem said new housing in Madinat Salman and nearby villages had put greater pressure on the same roads.

Schools, health centres and government services were also putting further traffic on routes already hit by long queues.

Widening Budaiya Highway alone would not solve the problem, he said.

‘The work should not stop at simply widening Budaiya Highway,’ Mr Kadhem said. ‘The junctions and the places where traffic keeps building up need to be dealt with as well.’

He called for one road plan covering Budaiya Highway, Janabiya Highway and the entrances to Madinat Salman that could cope as the area grows.

Mr Kadhem said the flyover and changes to Budaiya intersection should be given priority and considered as part of the current Budaiya Highway works.