A tentative plan for traffic movement on the new Zuari Bridge involves a 15-day trial to analyse traffic movement during the year end, says PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral.
PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral along with PWD officials and Dilip Buildcon Ltd officials conducted a site inspection of the new Zuari Bridge on Wednesday.
The PWD minister informed that the existing old Zuari Bridge will be fully dedicated to pulling traffic from North Goa to South Goa, and the new Zuari Bridge will be used for pulling traffic from South Goa to North Goa, except for heavy vehicles.
Cabral also revealed that a file will be signed by him in which a proposal to place high-tech traffic islands will be installed on prime traffic junctions. This will be used to facilitate traffic and impose penalties on violators by using artificial intelligence.
He concluded that the traffic movement on the new Zuari Bridge will be allowed on a 15-day trial basis. Load testing, etc will be done, and only when it is safe, the bridge will be opened in a full-fledged manner.
It may be recalled that the PWD minister had claimed that the new Zuari Bridge would be open to traffic movement in December this year. The year-end festivities in Goa attract lakhs of tourists. This also affects smooth traffic movements from the Agassaim to Verna stretch during peak hour, causing traffic jams for almost 1 to 3 hours at times. It is expected that the new Zuari Bridge will ease traffic movement.