Mitigation of Traffic Congestion: A Tool for Development and Urbanization

Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases. This is characterized by slower speed, longer trip times and increased vehicular queuing. This can be demonstrated by the physical use of roads by motor vehicles. Congestion results when traffic demand is large enough such that the interaction between vehicles slows down the speed of the flow of traffic. When this occurs at an intersection, huge traffic congestion results and as such, it is traditionally referred to as traffic jam or traffic snarl-up and a good road network is the most important key to the spatial organization of society. The Calabar Metropolitan City road network intersections comprising; Calabar road, Murtala Muhammed High way (MMHW), Etta Agbor, Marian, MCC Roads, Parliamentary Extension, Good Luck Jonathan Bye Pass, Atimbo Road, Mary Slessor Road, Tinapa and Odukpani Junctions and environs or adjoining streets and internal roads in the metropolis and the UNICEM/Lafarge Factory- Odukpani Junction alternative evacuation road were studied. Though not all of them are signalized, therefore needing the services of traffic controllers to facilitate traffic. The case of Calabar Road- MMHW-Odukpni Road traffic jam or traffic snarl-up has worsened. The lack of maintenance and expansion of these roads is becoming evident by the day as commuters and other road users manoeuvre through narrow and poorly built roads or having to sleep on the road or spend 3 hours to 8 hours for a journey of 20 to 30 minutes. It is conventional that towns grow into cities in an ad-hoc manner, with usually no provision made towards scaling road capacities, eventually resulting into several bottleneck roads, which remain congested for extended periods of time. More so, Calabar has witnessed a geometric growth in her vehicular population resulting in the failure of traditional traffic management strategies.