Traffic congestion

I ACKNOWLEDGE the response from the city manager concerning the closure of the ATS roundabout outside Port Moresby.
However, the reason given is an admission by the authorities that they made a bad decision on an important issue.
Millions of kina was wasted on the Kumul Flyover and the 9-Mile road leading to the city and among its important objectives, while providing a VIP route to Waigani from the airport, was eliminating traffic congestion around the Erima area.
This meant that traffic flow into and out of the city via Erima would have been eased or eliminated.
After two years of the 9-Mile and 8-Mile-to-Erima road opening, the traffic congestion has remained.
This has forced statutory authorities to put out of service the Erima traffic lights and cordoned off the ATS roundabout, and subsequently the people are suffering because of the bad decisions of the State.
The cordoning off of the ATS roundabout has meant that in the morning, instead of joining the queue at ATS roundabout, Kennedy estate commuters would go all the way to the 8-Mile roundabout and join the long queue there.
Then in the afternoon, those living at Sky View Estate, ATS Barracks and settlement and the rest would then join the afternoon traffic to the outer suburbs all the way to 8-Mile then back again to the ATS junction to go home.
This is improper government planning that was made without proper regard and consideration for those affected.
So the call still stands that the ATS roundabout should be re-opened because morning traffic congestion still remains at Erima.
As a side note, a win-win solution would be to put traffic wardens at Erima and 5-Mile roundabouts because these roundabouts are the real cause of traffic congestions. Nevertheless, thank you again to the city manager for his explanation.

Brian Lora