Old highway continues to battle traffic congestion, authorities unmoved

Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, July 14: The traffic congestion on National Highway 1A, now known as the old highway, endures despite the completion of NH-44 a few years ago, making it difficult to drive through some major towns in the Valley.
Nearly all the important towns in the Kashmir Valley are connected by the old national highway, including Bijbehara, Awantipora, Pampore, Pantha Chowk, and others. When the NH-44 was being built, these places were bypassed, and it was thought that once the new route was operational, the old one would become less congested.
The old highway, on the other hand, has actually grown more congested in recent years. These major towns consequently have frequent and severe traffic bottlenecks every day. “After declaring the new highway open, the administration has all but forgotten about the old one. The administration should provide some relief to the general population by taking these routes seriously,” Bashir Ahmad, a resident of Pampore said.
The people believe that, if not the entire road, then at least the bottlenecks in the main towns should be fixed. “It is possible to extend the sections of road that pass through these towns in order to at least partly lessen the chaotic traffic situation,” a shopkeeper in Bijbehara told Excelsior.
Even if widening continues to be the main concern, other minor issues are exacerbating it and worsening the situation. One such example is the lack of parking in these towns along the former National Highway. “Every day, hundreds of vehicles are left parked on both sides of NH-1A, especially in these congested locations. And it is obvious this makes the traffic chaos worse,” a local in Awantipora told Excelsior.
Due to a dearth of parking spaces, people are obliged to park carelessly and haphazardly, which worsens the situation. In addition, the general public suffers from the lack of maintenance along these portions. “Yes, these sections of the road were recently macadamized, but they have been damaged by the winter and have not been repaired. The garbage is frequently placed along the old national highway, causing inconvenience to motorists with an unpleasant odour,” he said.
The terrible part is that it did not seem like there was a quick answer to the agony of the people. “There are no present plans to widen the old national highway. It is not a priority now,” an official from the Roads and Buildings department said.