Hulhumale' roundabouts result in less accidents, more awareness needed: HDC

With changes brought to traffic flow in Hulhumale' with the placing of roundabouts, the number of accidents have seen a decline, Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has said. However, they emphasized that awareness needs to be raised even more.

Speaking on State media about Hulhumale' traffic, Assistant Director at the Transport, Planning and Design Department of HDC Ahmed Sofwan said that roundabouts had been built at the most high traffic intersections as research indicated that doing so would lead to a decrease in accidents if proper rules are followed. He said that the change had brought significant ease to the traffic issues in Hulhumale'.

"Traffic flow is smooth in those areas now. If the regulations are abided by, our research shows there's no chance of any accidents occurring," Sofwan said.

He said that trials have been held in collaboration with Police. Emergency vehicles were used in the trials, testing if it is easy for them to navigate in those areas.

Sofwan said that changes had been brought following what was learned in the trials as well.

"We have to ensure that fire trucks, emergency vehicles, and ambulances can go in the time necessary. So we brought their vehicles and did on-site testing. We brought on-site changes as well," he said.

The last roundabout HDC placed was on the road where traffic arrives in Hulhumale' from the bridge.

In relation to traffic operations in Hulhumale', Inspector Ismail Rafeeu said that the roundabouts have been placed in the areas noticed to be most prone to accidents. He, too, confirmed that the numbers of accidents have decreased with this change,

Rafeeu said that the present challenge is the increase in accidents in smaller lanes, which people opt for due to the roundabout near the Central Park on the road which leads to Hulhumale' Phase 2. Due to this, efforts are ongoing to bring changes to this location, he said.

Rafeeu said that before the roundabouts were placed, accidents were common at 32 points at intersections. However, with the placing of the roundabouts, the likelihood of accidents occurring are reduced to 8 points.

He said that if the public is made aware of how to properly use roundabouts, then the number of accidents will further lessen.

"When travelling at a roundabout, the speed decreases to 15 to 20km. There are lanes in which you should travel. So if the lanes are correctly used, quite a large number of vehicles are able to go through the traffic floor."

Rafeeu said that Police will be active in these points in the coming days to increase public awareness.

HDC is working on setting up roundabouts in 11 areas in Hulhumale'. The plan is to complete this work by the end of the year.