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Sharjah commuters can breathe easy

SHARJAH - Stuck in a traffic snarl on a busy street of Sharjah, and longing for some help? Well, if that's what you have often wished, here is a silver lining: it will soon translate into the realms of reality.

Beginning with the new academic year, Sharjah Police will deploy patrols at 20 locations in the emirate that are rather infamous for recurring traffic jams. The patrol teams will ensure that the flow of traffic continues unhindered, and there are no snarls.

The 20 patrol teams would especially monitor the movement of school buses so as to ensure safety of children and smooth movement of traffic.

Colonel Abdullah Al Dukhan, Deputy Director of Sharjah Police, said the traffic bottlenecks on the emirate's roads could be majorly attributed to the large number of school buses plying on roads, in addition to government and private sector employees travelling in the rush hours.

The official noted that the number of students - those studying in schools and universities - in the emirate had been increasing, and some of the students were also driving their own cars.

Sharjah is located in the heart of the UAE and a lot of inter-emirate traffic passes through it, Col. Al Dukhan said, adding that this could also partly explain the emirate's traffic woes.

He pointed out that Sharjah Police were making all efforts to sort out the traffic problem in the emirate, and had, in fact, intensified patrolling on all roads of the emirate, particularly in areas with detours and diversions.

Also, with a view to making the traffic smooth, traffic signals have been installed on at least eight roundabouts, and many diversions and detours have been established in areas where road construction works are going on.

Col Al Dukhan said that a committee comprising members from Municipality, Traffic Police and Public Works Department has been set up to evaluate and solve traffic issues in the emirate.

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