ELAZIG GUNISIGI NEWSPAPER – November 2012
THE TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE OF "ELAZIĞ"
In order to observe developments, changes, or the lack of any action, it is essential to compare with the past. In my column in Günışığı Gazetesi dated October 19, 2011, I addressed a very important issue for our hometown. You can access my article titled “Urban Transportation in Elazığ” from the newspaper’s website.
That day, I didn’t criticize any institutions or individuals. I neutrally highlighted the traffic problem in the city center. I aimed to point out the key issues in solving the problem.
More than a year has passed since then. I wanted to take another look at the measures taken and the current state of traffic.
The current situation:
The traffic nightmare starting from the front of the Teacher’s House and continuing to the Military Barracks, involving both pedestrian and vehicle traffic, has been escalating with each passing day.
It’s not just on weekends; even on weekdays, those who find a parking space in the city center’s parking lots consider themselves the luckiest people of the day.
Our relevant authorities’ traffic services have been limited to placing traffic bollards to narrow the roads, which only worsen the traffic nightmare.
When traffic regulation is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind for citizens are the traffic bollards placed along the roads. This time, people park next to the bollards, further narrowing the road.
Traffic control on our main streets should be at a high level. Firstly, vehicle parking should not be allowed. Of course, if you can find a parking lot that can accommodate so many cars.
Gazi Street is one-way, and as an alternative, we use Vali Fahri Bey Street. However, the end of our alternative street leads to the PTT Building, which is an uncontrolled intersection. This is a point in urban transportation that could be described as a disgrace. You don’t need to even think about whether to demolish the historical PTT building. The solutions are far more than imagined, as long as we truly want to find them.
In many cities, important centers like Gazi Street are closed to traffic. As you know, this issue frequently comes up in Elazığ as well. If this street were closed, traffic would never be without alternatives. There are many different transportation plans for the Elazığ city center. However, there are steps that need to be taken early on. One of the first steps is parking lots.
Unless parking lots are created to relieve the vehicle load in the city center, we should not even think about reducing or ending the traffic nightmare. A few vacant spaces in buildings or the yards of a couple of schools cannot solve the parking issue.
Building parking lots will not bring a financial burden to the relevant institutions. The build-operate-transfer model in the parking sector is an attractive commercial move. However, the locations and capacities of the parking lots should be determined through the joint work of specialized institutions. Taking incorrect steps could lead to significant deadlocks.
Why are parking lots so important? As you know, Gazi Street has three lanes, but traffic always proceeds in a single lane. And on weekends, when you come to the city center and cannot find an empty parking space, you’ll better understand why parking lots are so necessary.
First, transportation planning should be done, and multi-story parking lots should urgently be built in the Nailbey, Kültür, Çarşı, İzzet Paşa, and Yenimahalle regions. Meanwhile, new transportation plans should be made with Gazi Street closed to traffic, and necessary expropriations or exchanges should be carried out immediately.
Elazığ does not have an unsolvable traffic problem. However, it does have a traffic problem whose solution cost increases day by day. Let’s take steps to solve the problems because the feasibility studies, project works, and the legal processes that will be encountered will take significant time.
Transportation planning could be done more economically during this process, as urban transformation is on the agenda. This important opportunity should also be utilized. Unfortunately, no significant steps have been taken for Elazığ city center traffic in the past year.
This is not Istanbul, and there aren’t 20 million people living here. If, from the front of İzzet Paşa Mosque to the Teacher’s House, pedestrians can move faster than vehicles on foot, it’s a point of pride for the people of Elazığ…
I pray for mercy from the Almighty for our police officers and citizens who lost their lives in the accident at the Sivrice District junction on Sunday, and I extend my condolences to the Police Department and the grieving families, and wish a speedy recovery to the injured…