Changing Land Uses and Traffic Congestion in Calabar Municipality, Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between changing land uses and traffic congestion in Calabar Municipality. The study employed the survey design. Field survey was undertaken using the road network map and the land use map of the study area. Traffic survey was also undertaken to obtain data on the volume of traffic. The land use maps of 2010 and 2014 were used in order to examine the changing patterns in the land use of the study area. The annual rate of land use change was obtained by dividing the difference in area covered by each land use between 2010 and 2014 by five years. In order to examine the relationship between changing land
uses and traffic congestion, the multiple linear regression statistically technique was adopted. The result of the analysis indicated a coefficient of determination of 0.537 which implies that that 53.7% of the variation in traffic volume can be explained by the changes in the predictor variables - residential, commercial and public land uses. The result showed that changing land uses had significant relationship with traffic congestion in the study area. Findings also revealed that there has been significant effect in changes in the use of land along roads and these changes have created problems along transportation routes such as traffic congestion, parking problems,
accidents, haphazard/indiscriminate display of signpost/billboards, over stretching of the road infrastructures and noise pollution. Based on these findings, it has been recommended from the study amongst others; equitable redistribution of land uses particularly those uses that trigger and generate high volumes of traffic, regular studies should be carried out to progressively examine the rate and pattern of changing land use, strict enforcement and implementation of development control measures, monitoring of the changes in the land use of the area from time-to-time by the Calabar Municipality Planning Authority and restriction of unnecessary change in use of land.