Yangon’s regional authorities sure like flyovers.
Four have been built since 2011 – at Hledan, Bayit Naung, Myaynigone and Shegonedine junctions.
Traffic has continued to suck.
Not to be discouraged, the government is building three more this financial year: at Tamwe, Kokine and 8 Mile junctions.
That’s a total of seven flyovers – at a cost of more than K120 billion, according to Eleven Media.
But the ongoing construction is compounding commuters’ miseries, with people forced to walk to work and taxi drivers refusing to travel to congested areas.
During the 18-month long construction of the forthcoming Tamwe junction, Bo Sein Marn Road has been reduced to a single lane, and bus stops on West Horserace Course Road are out of action.
“There is heavy traffic around Kyaiksan Road. I often get off the bus around here and walk to work,” one commuter traveling from Thingyangyun Township to Tamwe Township – where construction on the flyover is already underway – told Eleven.
Some taxi drivers won’t take passengers to areas of heavy traffic. Or they just charge more.
“I avoid going to Tamwe and, when I accept, charge a higher price,” said one. “I usually don’t go there.”
Awesome. Thanks.
A study by the Yangon Committee Development Council showed that the Tawme Junction – expected to take 18 months to build at a cost of K 22.5 billion – was unnecessary.
Bahan MP Nyo Nyo Thin, who tried to block the Kokine flyover, said the money would have been better spent on other things.
“People here spend more than half their income on living expenses,” she told Eleven.
“If the government solves the problem of living expenses effectively, it would be like giving them funds to use on other things. This would have the potential to improve education for children around the city.
“The government said 100 per cent of children have been given education, but this is not the reality. Some parents depend on their children’s income. It would benefit the country if we could send all children to school.”
Photo / Wikicommons
