Zanjan Prepares for Winter Road Maintenance with Focus on Reducing Road Fatalities

Zanjan – The Director General of Road Maintenance and Road Transportation in Zanjan Province announced plans to enhance the readiness of transport routes against winter precipitation and to sustain the ongoing downward trend in road fatalities.

According to the report of Ambassador Arjan Asghar Esmaili, in the winter traffic coordination meeting with the representatives of the traffic police of Zanjan province, emphasizing the need for coordination among the responsible agencies to improve road safety, he stated: In view of the meteorological organization's prediction of heavy rains in the coming winter, the maximum preparation of forces, equipment and road facilities and strengthening coordination with the traffic police is one of the main priorities for traffic management in the transportation axes of the province.

Pointing to the importance of preventing road accidents in the winter season, he added: The purpose of holding this meeting is to create synergy between the responsible agencies and take the necessary measures to manage weather conditions, increase traffic safety and reduce traffic accidents, so that the lowest amount of road casualties can be recorded in the province with accurate planning and effective use of existing capacities.

Director General of Road Traffic and Road Transport of Zanjan Province, referring to the performance of the province in the field of road safety, continued: Fortunately, in the past years, acceptable results have been achieved in the field of reducing road casualties, and Zanjan is among the top three provinces of the country in this index.

He continued: "Our effort is to continue the preventive measures and strengthen the monitoring of transportation axes, so that this decreasing trend continues in the remaining five months of the year."

Esmaili further pointed to the executive measures for the improvement of the Zanjan-Tabriz axis and said: since May of this year, the management of 195 km of this axis has been entrusted to the General Directorate of Highways and Road Transport of the province, and in this regard, the improvement and repair of 60 km of critical sections of this axis is on the agenda until the end of the working season.

Stating that speeding up the implementation of construction projects and improving road safety is one of the priorities of this General Directorate, he said: In order to advance the executive operations and ensure proper traffic conditions on this axis, five contractors have been contracted to carry out the improvement operations, correct the required sections, and implement the asphalt coating with greater speed and quality, and use the remaining opportunity of the working season to complete the planned measures.

The Director General of Road Traffic and Road Transport of Zanjan province emphasized that preventing accidents leading to death requires continuous attention to factors affecting road safety, and noted that every accident leading to death is of special importance for the road system and we must use all available capacities to minimize the occurrence of such accidents.

Referring to the role of targeted planning in reducing road accidents, Esmaili clarified: improving road safety does not necessarily depend on large costs, and in many cases, creativity in implementation, accurate identification of priorities and appropriate allocation of facilities can have a significant effect on reducing casualties. Therefore, it is necessary to prioritize measures based on the level of risk and the necessity of implementation in all areas related to road safety.

In this meeting, issues such as identifying and fixing accident-prone spots, improving road lighting, installing and repairing speed bumps, marking transportation axes, installing cameras to record violations, shouldering roads, managing water accumulation on the road surface, and cleaning bridges and fixing their flooding were discussed.

The investigation of these cases was done with the aim of improving the safety of road infrastructure, improving traffic conditions in the rainy season and winter, and increasing the coordination between the road administration and the road police to prevent accidents and reduce road casualties.