All precautionary measures and strategic provisions are in place to avoid traffic jams on the Niayesh- Sadr roadway. “For instance, the emergency access lanes at the conjunction of Sadr-Niayesh are meant for traffic only in case Niayesh Tunnel and the double-decker Sadr passageway are out of service,” said Maziar Hosseini, ex-deputy at Tehran Municipality, who was also head of the two projects.
Nevertheless, regular exploitation of the access routes has devastating effects on traffic jams, Alef reports.
In general, the Niayesh-Sadr carriageway and its conjunction comprises two lanes, with a third functioning as a “balancer” in rush hours. With the emergency access lanes open at all hours, traffic on Shariati Avenue converges on the tunnel from two or three different lanes, while two more roads merge with the tunnel from Sadr double-decker, thus clogging traffic.
Hosseini said except for emergency situations, the Sadr double-decker passageway should not have access to the Sadr ‘zero level’ pathway. Misusing the access roads has increased traffic in the neighborhood. For instance, vehicular traffic from Qaytarie, Chizar, and Niavaran districts can move to the city center using Kaveh or Qaytarie conjunction at Sadr, leading straight towards the east-west direction of the tunnel. “However, with the exploitation of emergency lanes, many use Shariati Avenue as a direct access road to the tunnel, creating exasperating traffic jams on Sadr double-decker,” Hosseini said. Consequently, using the emergency lanes as per the pre-determined criteria will reduce traffic volume even during the rush hours.
Traffic flow can be regulated through changes in speed limits. “By increasing the speed limit from 60km to 70km in the tunnel, and from 30km to 50km on the Sadr double-decker passage will help reduce traffic congestion,” he maintained.
