As rehabilitative work continues on the East Bank Demerara public road between Diamond and Good Success, the Ministry of Public Works has taken a decision to divert vehicular traffic, with the exception of trucks and public transportation, to the various bypass roads along the corridor to ease congestion.
Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill made the announcement today as he visited the road construction site in the presence of the Traffic Chief, Senior Superintendent Mahendra Singh and Head of the Public Works Ministry’s Special Projects Unit, Colin Gittens.
The new traffic arrangement takes immediate effect.
Minister Edghill said the statistics show that approximately 30,000 vehicles, of which approximately 20-30% are trucks, use the road on a daily basis, and it is therefore important to reduce the traffic flow as the road remains under construction.
“We do more than 30,000 vehicles per day on the East Bank, between 20 and 30% depending on the day of the week, are trucks. Between 20 to 30% of that number, depending on the day of the week, are trucks. What we are proposing to do is only trucks, because with the work that is going on, as you can see, lanes would be interrupted. So, sometimes you would not be able to get a full two lanes of traffic flowing north to south and south to north. But what we will have to do is to let out maybe 20-30 trucks at a time, 20-30 trucks at the other time, and we keep the trucks moving. So, we’re asking for all other cars, SUVs, motorcycles, and everybody else to keep off of this particular section so that we could have the heavy machines working, and traffic flowing,” Minister Edghill said.
Initially, Minister Edghill had suggested that only trucks be allowed to use the section of the road under construction, however, he was advised on the spot by the Traffic Chief to also accommodate public minibuses and people residing along the road.
Heeding to the advice of the Traffic Chief, Minister Edghill assured that using the alternative routes would help to ease congestion and prevent further disruption to the traffic. The diversions start at Little Diamond on the East Bank.
“You would recall that long before we started this project, we ensured that we created adequate bypasses. We did the road just at Diamond, once you pass the gas station, you could head east, and then you could get into Diamond and cross over Jimbo bridge and come back out to the East Bank Highway. We have ensured that we have made all the necessary connections for people to go down through Heroes Highway, connect through Diamond and come through the bypasses, so that you don’t have to be on this carriageway,” Minister Edghill said.
Though reluctant to disclose the deadline for the project, Minister Edghill assured that the project which has been ongoing for some time, will not go on forever.
“As of today, we want to start diverting the traffic. This carriageway must be finished. This is not forever, we want to get this wrapped up as fast as possible,” he said.
The Traffic Chief said the number of vehicles traversing the area has increased significantly in recent years, and it is therefore important to control the flow of traffic by providing alternative routes.
“One of the things I would suggest, and not deviating from the orders of the Minister of Government at the time, is that public transportation should continue along this line, that is to say the route 42 mini buses, so that we don’t take away from where persons have to travel or inconvenience them to reroute back to their residences or places that they go to do business,” the Traffic Chief said.
He said the rehabilitation of the road forms part of development, and the Traffic Department stands ready to lend its support but underscored the need for the appropriate signate to be in place to guide road users on the diversions.
He noted that along the East Bank corridor there are approximately 18 other construction sites, and despite its limited capacity in terms of the number of ranks, the Department continues to offer its support.
The project, which covers the rehabilitation of approximately 1.6km of road, is being conducted by five contractors at the cost of $1.3B. it is approximately 45% complete. When completed, the two-lane road would be expanded to accommodate heavier trafficker, walkways and parking.
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