Police yesterday restricted vehicle access to Zhapu Road Bridge, which crosses Suzhou Creek near the Bund in Shanghai, relieving rush-hour pressure that caused traffic chaos on Monday.

Some traffic was diverted to Sichuan Road Bridge, 200 meters to the west, and the timing of nearby traffic lights was changed.

Local residents said the 17-meter-wide Zhapu Road Bridge has been relatively quiet for the past 10 years, when it has mostly been used by cyclists and moped riders.

Traffic increased on Monday as a result of the year-long closure of Waibaidu Bridge.

Fourteen transit-bus services have been rerouted, with almost all of them now using Zhapu Road Bridge when traveling north.

Traffic police implemented new rules yesterday to prevent a repeat of Monday's bottleneck.

Vehicles running east along South Suzhou Road have been banned from turning left onto Zhapu Road Bridge, and have been diverted to nearby Sichuan Road Bridge.

Vehicles going south along Zhapu Road have been banned from turning left into North Suzhou Road before they reach the bridge, so they don't turn in to the face of traffic traveling north across the bridge.

"The first rule reduces the number of cars heading onto the bridge from the southern side, while the second rule provides more space to ensure vehicles leave the bridge more quickly," said Sun Guofu, a traffic police officer.

Police also changed the timing of lights at nearby crossroads yesterday to speed-up traffic flow on the bridge. A Shanghai Daily reporter visited the area early yesterday and saw traffic flow had improved.

"The situation has improved noticeably from Monday's morning rush hour," said a traffic police assistant surnamed Chen, who began duty at 7am. "Cars and buses are not queuing for a long time on the bridge."

Seven assistants and three traffic police officers were on duty at entrances to the bridge about noon yesterday.

Due to safety concerns, large vehicles except transit buses are not allowed to use the bridge. But some local residents said they were worried because they had seen cargo vehicles using the bridge when traffic officers were off duty.

Li Ming, a delegate to the Shanghai People's Congress, said: "My office is nearby and, over the past 10 years, I haven't seen such a heavy traffic flow.

"I am deeply concerned about whether it's reasonable to suddenly open the bridge to such heavy traffic flows."

The bridge has a load limit of 10 tons. According to Chen Airong, vice dean with Tongji University's civil engineering college, this means no single vehicle crossing the bridge should weigh more than 10 tons. The limit does not refer to the total weight of the vehicles on the bridge at one time.

Chen said the bridge should be able to handle the current flow, but authorities should strictly prevent fully loaded cargo vehicles from using it.

The local engineering administrative authority was not available for comment.

(Shanghai Daily March 5, 2008)