Earthquake proof work causes chaos on bridges
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Hurriyet Daily News
OluÅŸturulma Tarihi: Haziran 29, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Earthquake proofing work that is being carried out on Istanbul’s Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge over a 40-day period causes chaos to the city’s already congested traffic flow. The aftermath of hours of gridlock on the first days left the public fleeing to alternative routes causing even more congestion at peak times on first bridge and on ferry boats.
After playing trial and error with transportation alternatives last week, Istanbul’s frustrated traffic flow is gaining momentum. With significant work being done on the second Bosphorus bridge however, questions remain as to how long this inconvenience will be tolerated.Â
Earthquake proofing work that is being carried out on Istanbul’s Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge over a 40-day period has caused utter chaos to Istanbul’s already congested traffic flow. The aftermath of hours of gridlock on the first day of work, when two lanes were blocked off on the FSM bridge, left the public fleeing to alternative transportation causing even more congestion at peak times on alternative first bridge and on ferry boats.
A 2 p.m. on a weekday afternoon, Istanbul’s drivers would expect little to no traffic on the FSM bridge even during maintenance work, yet on Wednesday afternoon queues were forming from half a mile down the adjoining motorway. At 7 p.m., peak time on the same day, while still congested, the traffic flowed better than that of the afternoon. According to a ticket officer at the bridge, the general public consensus is to avoid the bridge at peak times and use it throughout the day, which has increasingly resulted in a steady traffic flow.
"I was surprised when I took a long de-tour to the FSM bridge after seeing the congestion on the first bridge. I could not believe how empty the FSM Bridge was. I went 100 km/hr and returned home 20 minutes earlier than I usually would have when coming from Sabiha Gökçen Airport," Deniz Ertenü told the Hürriyet Daily News Economic Review. People waiting in the queues were less content. A truck driver for Teknosa who wished to remain anonymous said it is more frustrating for truck and lorry drivers as they have fewer alternative routes.
"We do not have the luxury to alter the times or the routes for our deliveries. For the past two days I have been up to two hours late to all my deliveries and it has led to a back log in orders," the driver told the Daily News.
Taxi drivers too have complained about the work. Ozan Taxi located adjacent to the bridge, said they urge their customers to use the first bridge as much as possible, which according to one driver is reasonably open at most times. The governor of Istanbul, Muammer Güler, has asked people to be patient during this period. "The strengthening work being carried out on the bridge is extremely important for earthquake precautions and we have endeavored to pick a more quiet time when universities and schools have gone on holiday. The work forces are working efficiently to try and finish the work before the set deadline," Güler said speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, CNN Turk reported.
No clue on the work
Stranded amid the gridlock of traffic, drivers also expressed their mixed views about the maintenance work. While some had no clue as to what kind of work was taking place, others were weary about how effective the supplemental work would be in the case of an earthquake.
Mehmet Çicek, a driver for Fortis bank, told the Daily News that if the foundation work was laid out properly in the beginning and annual two- or three-day maintenance had been carried out, then there would not be any need for such a long period of work.
"Hundreds of cars cross the bridge everyday and pay tolls, if this money was used for consistent maintenance so many people would not suffer in this squelching summer heat," Çicek said.
Those that have not been able to tolerate the congestion have either ditched their cars for ferryboats or taken their cars to Sirkeci (located half an hour from FSM bridge) to take large ferries that accommodate cars. These ferries have been allocated by the Istanbul sea buses and Fast ferries Ä°nc, or Ä°DO, that cross from Sirkeci to Harem between 7 a.m. and midnight everyday during the maintenance work. A statement released by Ä°DO states that ferries on this line have been taking an average of 15,000 cars have been using the boats per day, which is an increase from a previous average of 10,000 passengers before the bridge work started.
Others have been taking the regular ferry passenger boats that transfer passengers from the European to Asian side every 10 minutes. This is often a more preferred route in the summer months although passengers have complained that since the work started the ferryboats are overloaded at peak times and causing delays as a result.
Since people have resorted to these alternative routes there has been a noticeable relief on both bridges. According to Daily Hurriyet’s columnist Yalçin Doğan, this is as a result of the Edgeworth Paradox, which in economics is where two players cannot reach equilibrium with pure strategies as each player faces capacity constraints, but together they can more than satisfy such demand.
In the case of the bridges, DoÄŸan argues that at the start of the maintenance work each bridge reached gridlock as people toed and froed between both bridges and thus they could not cater for the demand, but after parties started to take alternative routes both bridges received a more balanced flow of traffic.
On Wednesday, Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım held a press conference announcing that the work on the bridge will be sped up and currently working forces are aiming to be finished 10 days ahead of schedule on July 20. A statement released by Yakup Dost, Director of the 17th Regional Highway Directorate, says that until the end of the maintenance work, the closed off lanes will be alternated according to the level of traffic and precautions will be taken to ease traffic at peak hours.
Earthquake proofing work that is being carried out on Istanbul’s Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge over a 40-day period has caused utter chaos to Istanbul’s already congested traffic flow. The aftermath of hours of gridlock on the first day of work, when two lanes were blocked off on the FSM bridge, left the public fleeing to alternative transportation causing even more congestion at peak times on alternative first bridge and on ferry boats.
A 2 p.m. on a weekday afternoon, Istanbul’s drivers would expect little to no traffic on the FSM bridge even during maintenance work, yet on Wednesday afternoon queues were forming from half a mile down the adjoining motorway. At 7 p.m., peak time on the same day, while still congested, the traffic flowed better than that of the afternoon. According to a ticket officer at the bridge, the general public consensus is to avoid the bridge at peak times and use it throughout the day, which has increasingly resulted in a steady traffic flow.
"I was surprised when I took a long de-tour to the FSM bridge after seeing the congestion on the first bridge. I could not believe how empty the FSM Bridge was. I went 100 km/hr and returned home 20 minutes earlier than I usually would have when coming from Sabiha Gökçen Airport," Deniz Ertenü told the Hürriyet Daily News Economic Review. People waiting in the queues were less content. A truck driver for Teknosa who wished to remain anonymous said it is more frustrating for truck and lorry drivers as they have fewer alternative routes.
"We do not have the luxury to alter the times or the routes for our deliveries. For the past two days I have been up to two hours late to all my deliveries and it has led to a back log in orders," the driver told the Daily News.
Taxi drivers too have complained about the work. Ozan Taxi located adjacent to the bridge, said they urge their customers to use the first bridge as much as possible, which according to one driver is reasonably open at most times. The governor of Istanbul, Muammer Güler, has asked people to be patient during this period. "The strengthening work being carried out on the bridge is extremely important for earthquake precautions and we have endeavored to pick a more quiet time when universities and schools have gone on holiday. The work forces are working efficiently to try and finish the work before the set deadline," Güler said speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, CNN Turk reported.
No clue on the work
Stranded amid the gridlock of traffic, drivers also expressed their mixed views about the maintenance work. While some had no clue as to what kind of work was taking place, others were weary about how effective the supplemental work would be in the case of an earthquake.
Mehmet Çicek, a driver for Fortis bank, told the Daily News that if the foundation work was laid out properly in the beginning and annual two- or three-day maintenance had been carried out, then there would not be any need for such a long period of work.
"Hundreds of cars cross the bridge everyday and pay tolls, if this money was used for consistent maintenance so many people would not suffer in this squelching summer heat," Çicek said.
Those that have not been able to tolerate the congestion have either ditched their cars for ferryboats or taken their cars to Sirkeci (located half an hour from FSM bridge) to take large ferries that accommodate cars. These ferries have been allocated by the Istanbul sea buses and Fast ferries Ä°nc, or Ä°DO, that cross from Sirkeci to Harem between 7 a.m. and midnight everyday during the maintenance work. A statement released by Ä°DO states that ferries on this line have been taking an average of 15,000 cars have been using the boats per day, which is an increase from a previous average of 10,000 passengers before the bridge work started.
Others have been taking the regular ferry passenger boats that transfer passengers from the European to Asian side every 10 minutes. This is often a more preferred route in the summer months although passengers have complained that since the work started the ferryboats are overloaded at peak times and causing delays as a result.
Since people have resorted to these alternative routes there has been a noticeable relief on both bridges. According to Daily Hurriyet’s columnist Yalçin Doğan, this is as a result of the Edgeworth Paradox, which in economics is where two players cannot reach equilibrium with pure strategies as each player faces capacity constraints, but together they can more than satisfy such demand.
In the case of the bridges, DoÄŸan argues that at the start of the maintenance work each bridge reached gridlock as people toed and froed between both bridges and thus they could not cater for the demand, but after parties started to take alternative routes both bridges received a more balanced flow of traffic.
On Wednesday, Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım held a press conference announcing that the work on the bridge will be sped up and currently working forces are aiming to be finished 10 days ahead of schedule on July 20. A statement released by Yakup Dost, Director of the 17th Regional Highway Directorate, says that until the end of the maintenance work, the closed off lanes will be alternated according to the level of traffic and precautions will be taken to ease traffic at peak hours.