Second bridge to be built from Myawaddy to Mae Sot next year Published on Sunday, 24 August 2014 23:43

Trucks passing over Myawady Friendship bridge that was built in 1997 (Photo-Ko Shwe Thein/EMG)

MYAWADDY- Myanmar has agreed to a second Friendship Bridge being built over the River Moei at Myawaddy, where many commodities are traded with business people in Thailand.

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It's definitely needed. That bridge is utter madness all day long.

Good to see the area being developed more and more over the years I have been here.

It's definitely needed. That bridge is utter madness all day long.

Good to see the area being developed more and more over the years I have been here.

The reasons the bridge is madness is due to a number of factors that weren't taken into account at the time it was opened.

1) There is no proper place to park on either side of the bridge and if there's heavy traffic, it's single lane traffic lanes can't handle the volume of traffic. 4 traffic lanes and immigration buildings, particularly on the Myanmar side, further inside the country would have been better. But up until 2011 or so, I don't think there was enough traffic to justify this and for years the bridge was officially closed, on and off anyway. It's only since around late 2011 and especially with the opening of the overland routes in August of 2013 that traffic volume has drastically increased.

2) Since Myanmar drives on the right, the traffic switchover on the top of the bridge, which is not handled by traffic lights as it's supposed to be doesn't work very well and can cause accidents if traffic gets heavy or if drivers aren't careful. The traffic switchover from left to right should be done on the Myanmar side.

3) Trucks are the main reason for traffic congestion on the bridge. They need to be diverted to the second bridge, once completed ASAP.