Signalling system upgrade falters

A project to upgrade the signalling system at the city's four busy intersections is apparently falling through a lack of coordination between departments.
Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), the implementer of the Dhaka Integrated Traffic Management Project (DITMP), extended the project period up to December 2019.
The project, launched in 2015 to install intelligence traffic system (ITS) at Paltan, Gulistan, Mohakhali and Gulshan-1 intersections, ended in June 2018 without completing the job.
Sources said they completed a major portion of civil work at Gulshan and Paltan but faced problems to finish the entire work at Mohakhali and Gulistan in time.
Besides, civil work on one side of Paltan got damaged totally while doing utility work by Dhaka Mass Transit Company, which is implementing the metro rail project.
The signal upgrade project could not be completed due to lack of coordination, they claimed.
DTCA officials said pipeline installation under Mohakhali rail crossing is also facing an unnecessary delay due to non-cooperation from railway authorities.
Work on Gulistan started late for not getting cooperation from the Hanif flyover management.
The DTCA undertook the project to improve the city's intersection management based on real-time traffic counts.
As part of the project, the transport coordination authority is to install the ITS at signal points.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is providing technical support to the pilot project aimed at installing the system at all intersections afterwards.
Sources, however, said the project has also been delayed due to not getting the ITS in time.
They said the arrival of ITS machinery will take a few more months.
As to the delay in the civil work, the officials said the Holey Artisan tragedy also hit the project.
For this, Japanese consultants did not feel comfortable to come to Dhaka, they said.
Civil work began at the end of 2017.
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