By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 24: Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong on Friday said the state government has taken a multi-disciplinary and integrated approach to tackle the problem of traffic congestion and thereby, improve mobility and accessibility in Shillong.
Replying to a query from Trinamool Congress state president Charles Pyngrope on whether any effective measures are being taken to ease traffic congestion, Tynsong said the government conducted technical studies, integrated network planning and mobility gap assessment to understand the root cause of the problem.
He said based on these interventions and inputs received from various departments a blueprint to decongest Shillong was prepared. Short, medium, and long-term interventions were listed out to ease congestion, he added.
Tynsong, who is also the Home Minister, said the multi-departmental “Shillong Decongestion Committee”, which is headed by the chief secretary, has been notified to monitor the progress of the government interventions.
He said the government is taking inputs from institutions like IIM Shillong, NIT Shillong, and North Eastern Space Application Centre. He said the government is also taking initiatives such as the introduction of school buses and long-term improvement of road network capacity.
The Deputy CM said some 450 cars will be removed from the streets during peak hours under this system. The government has also prioritized augmentation of parking and road network capacity to cater to the increasing demand and over 300 equivalent car parking spaces are being added to the city.
Tynsong said the government is also introducing 30 electric buses connecting major commercial, employment, educational and residential areas. They will initially ply in a 30-minute frequency and it will be reduced to 10-15 minutes in a phased manner in the identified routes.
On the long-term measures, he said the creation of the Shillong Western Bypass and the expansion of the Shillong Eastern Bypass and other roads will ease congestion.
He said the government has decided to create an administrative city in the New Shillong Township where the civil secretariat and other government offices will be shifted. He said this will ease traffic congestion and help identify additional parking lots and expand roads wherever possible.
Earlier, Pyngrope had referred to the budget speech and blueprint about a world-class skywalk from Barik to Police Bazar. He suggested that if something in that line could be done for vehicular movement, it will ease traffic congestion.