Despite traffic congestion relief projects, Iraq lacks new roads

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[size=52]Despite traffic congestion relief projects, Iraq lacks new roads[/size]

[size=45]Traffic congestion has become one of the major concerns facing Baghdad residents. Getting to work and back home is a daily struggle. Despite the Iraqi government launching 16 projects in the capital to ease traffic congestion, it has made matters worse due to the new intersections created by construction work.[/size]
[size=45]Even with the opening of a number of bridges in the capital, it seems that they have only slightly eliminated the problem of traffic congestion in the streets, which has had repercussions on citizens, while some attribute the cause to the traffic system, while others believe that Baghdad needs expressways that go around the cities, not small bridges.[/size]
[size=45]Capacity[/size]
[size=45]Head of the Strategic Center for Human Rights in Iraq, Fadhel Al-Gharawi, confirmed that the number of cars has increased to reach 8 million cars in 2024.[/size]
[size=45]He added that the year 2024 recorded an increase of 1.9 percent, and in 2023 it reached 1.8 percent compared to 2022.[/size]
[size=45]He added, "The density of cars will be around one car for every 5.55 people in 2024 and around one car for every 5.43 people."[/size]
[size=45]He expected that “the number of cars in Iraq by 2030 will exceed 10 million cars, stressing that the increase in the number of cars will lead to pressure on the infrastructure of roads and bridges in addition to the high costs of importing cars.”[/size]
[size=45]While the General Traffic Directorate announced today, Sunday, the submission of proposals to reduce traffic congestion in the streets of Baghdad, while it indicated the preparation of a study to address the number of vehicles and the capacity of the capital's roads.[/size]
[size=45]The Director of the Media Division of the General Traffic Directorate, Colonel Haider Shaker, said, “The Directorate worked on preparing a study to address the issue of increasing the number of vehicles and the capacity of the city of Baghdad.”[/size]
[size=45]He explained that “the Traffic Directorate presented several proposals that included returning to the system of registering old vehicles, in addition to establishing other mechanisms for importing vehicles,” expressing his hope “to transfer some commercial and industrial areas and some ministries to the outskirts outside Baghdad, in order to reduce the congestion inside the capital.”[/size]
[size=45]No alternative ways[/size]
[size=45]Traffic expert Major General Ammar Walid Al-Khayat attributed the reasons for the worsening traffic congestion in the capital, Baghdad, to “the road network not being able to accommodate more than 700,000 vehicles, while their current number is close to 3 million vehicles.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Khayyat added, “Opening the roads and removing the checkpoints will not reduce the traffic congestion with the presence of this huge number of vehicles, in addition to their stopping in prohibited places and the sudden closure of the main streets in the capital,” noting that “this congestion will increase if a new road network is not established.”[/size]
[size=45]The National Development Plan 2018-2022 set a goal to implement the traffic control system in an integrated and accurate manner.[/size]
[size=45]For his part, urban planning expert Kamel Al-Kanani stated that “the capital, Baghdad, suffers from the halting of new road construction projects and the poor maintenance of old ones, in addition to the decline in public transportation and the halting of the implementation of the suspended train and metro projects.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Kanani pointed to the “absence of strategic plans that contribute to developing the infrastructure of the traffic system in Iraq,” suggesting “moving commercial areas outside the capital to reduce traffic congestion and building bypass roads that enable cars coming from the provinces to cross to other provinces without entering the capital, in addition to working with a strict system of traffic fines.”[/size]
[size=45]Baghdad Metro but[/size]
[size=45]Since 2006, there has been talk in relevant circles in Iraq, including the Ministry of Transport and the Secretariat of the Capital, about establishing a metro in Baghdad to encourage citizens to reduce their reliance on private cars. However, despite the announcement of the preparation of designs and meetings with representatives of countries and specialized companies, all of this did not result in laying the foundation stone for any railway transportation project in Baghdad.[/size]
[size=45]According to Iraqi press reports, the Baghdad Metro project dates back to 1980, when the British company DBP designed the first phase of the metro, which cost $1.8 billion and consisted of a 32-kilometre line with 36 stops and waiting stations. It is divided into two lines: the first connects Al-Adhamiyah and Sadr City, but it was disrupted due to the Iran-Iraq war, then the invasion of Kuwait and the war to liberate it.[/size]
[size=45]In 1984, a Brazilian company submitted an integrated design for an expansion that included the first and second lines of the metro project, which included adding 11 kilometers to the line and 10 stations outside the coverage area of ​​the first phase of the project.[/size]
[size=45]After 2003, the project was put forward again by parliamentarians and members of local councils, as a solution to reduce traffic congestion, but the security conditions, corruption and political instability.[/size]
[size=45]In June 2011, the Baghdad Municipality announced that a French company was preparing the initial designs for the capital’s metro project, and invited French companies to compete with other international companies to implement reconstruction projects. However, the project did not pass this stage until 2017.[/size]
[size=45]In February 2020, former Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said that the French would support the Baghdad Metro project, but it also did not materialize on the ground.[/size]
[size=45]With more than 5 million cars in the capital, in addition to the poor traffic system and other issues, reducing congestion by half may remain a distant possibility at the present time due to the lack of alternative streets and roads to relieve Iraqis of this crisis.[/size]
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