RAWALPINDI, Feb 24: With roadwork unfinished and heavy machinery still in place at Marrir Chowk, Rawalpindi residents faced a weekend of chaotic traffic and long waits. The city government has announced that Benazir Bhutto Road will not be opened to general traffic until Monday evening, promising one more day of difficulty.

On Sunday, traffic remained impassable at Saddar, Raja Bazaar, Chandni Chowk, Pirwadhai Mor and other places. The jams will become even worse on Monday, once schools, colleges and offices reopen. Saqib Zafar, DCO and Rawalpindi Administrator, told Dawn that “The road will be closed for one day more - most likely it will reopen for general traffic on Monday evening.”

He said that RDA was supervising the work and attempting to divert traffic, but projects at 6th Road Flyover and Marrir Chowk were hard to work around.

Drivers and residents criticised the local administration and the city traffic police for simultaneously beginning three major development projects, along Benazir Bhutto Road and Peshawar Road, without an adequate traffic management plan. A commuter named Bilal Khan accused the CDGR and the CTP of “rubbing salt in the wounds” of residents, “who are already facing enough traffic problems”. He said that they had made “extravagant promises” about alternative routes during the development work, but never provided them.

Qasim Rana, another driver, agreed that traffic wardens were not being able to address the jams. “It's become a dream to see Benazir Bhutto Road unblocked,” he said, citing frequent traffic jams from Secretariat-2 to Marrir Chowk. “It’s getting worse every day,” he concluded.

A local resident, Mohammad Rizwan, said that the development work was “a good initiative” on the Chief Minister's part. “They should have made plans for alternative routes, though,” he said, noting that even taxi drivers had increased their fares and sometimes refused to go to Raja Bazaar and other adjoining areas.