Commuters to Suva City Caught in Traffic for Four Hours
Moving at a snail’s pace, people travelling on the Queens Road from outside Lami to Suva had to endure as long as four hours in a traffic jam which had built from the Tamavua-i-wai Bridge in Delainavesi. The bridge is the only artery joining Lami to Suva and the only way into the city.
Fiji Roads Authority said the approach to the Delainavesi end of the bridge had sunk because of heavy rain on Thursday night.
According to FRA the situation was aggravated by heavy vehicles travelling along the road.
This means the bridge was reduced to a single lane.
The situation became worse when a road accident involving two vehicles caused traffic from both sides of the bridge to come to a standstill.
FRA had finished filling the road to uplift it and the accident scene was cleared. By 3pm traffic had started to flow.
Fiji Sun chief photojournalist Ronald Kumar was stuck in traffic from Monfort Boys Town as he made his way back into Suva.
“I think this was the longest queue created due to something happening on the Tamavua-i-Wai Bridge. When the bridge cracked and was noticed for the first time, there was a traffic jam but this was the longest line I had seen,” he said.
Lami resident Peniasi Kuta had caught the bus in Lami around 11am and arrived in Suva after 1pm.
“It was a hot day and it can become very uncomfortable. There were some passengers who got off and went back home. Some decided that it would be easier to walk,” he said.
The Tamavua-i-Wai bridge construction is due to end by April this year. This will mean work on the existing bridge would then start. The finished work would mean two lanes heading into the city and two leading out.