the goan I network
VASCO
A 4-hour traffic jam due to works on the new Zuari bridge at Agassaim on Saturday evening left hundreds of motorists stranded along all roads around the Cortalim junction.
Teams from Goa Police and Traffic Police struggled to manage and regulate the huge queue of vehicles.
According to reports, the traffic jam begun at about 5 pm and lasted till about 9 pm, after the police finally succeeded in bringing the situation under control.
Some motorists claimed there were two minor accidents on the bridge, making matters worse for the stranded motorists.
According to one motorist, several vehicles had to move slowly due to ongoing bridge works, leading to huge queues of vehicles.
“The situation quickly went out of control after 5 pm, with a huge flow of taxis from the
airport and vehicles leaving the Verna Industrial Estate. There was absolute chaos and many vehicles were stuck for well over three hours,” said an unhappy motorist, Ramesh Kumar.
“To make situation worse, many taxis and two-wheelers
began jumping the queue and traffic slowed down near bad roads at Agassaim, creating bottlenecks at various junctions.”
“Utter chaos prevailed at the Cortalim circle as traffic movement slowed down and sudden showers hindered the movement further. Vehicles began to queue up from all ends, including a small bypass moving towards Loutolim and an internal road leading to Pilar,” said Kumar.
According to sources, a 1-km route near the Agassaim bypass junction took as long as two hours. The traffic jam put a lot of vehicles and commuters into severe hardship as vehicles moved over snail’s pace at regular intervals.
When contacted, sources at the Vasco Traffic Police said the traffic jam was caused due to works on the new Zuari bridge.
“There was a traffic jam because of traffic regulation due to works being taken on a pillar at the Agassaim side of the new Zuari Bridge construction site.”
“Work on the pillars at new Zuari bridge will begin from Saturday night and workers were excavating the area. As a result, traffic was being diverted.”
“While traffic movement was already slow since morning, there was chaos after 5 pm and went out of control. We finally managed to regulate traffic at about 9 pm, because the diverted roads were opened again. A traffic jam was still present for some time after 9 pm, but it was under control,” said the source.
