– as part of a larger plan to ease traffic congestion by creating a network of interconnected roads
The government is moving ahead full speed with plans to construct more roads and interconnections that would link Regions Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara). It is also part of a larger plan to ease the traffic woes facing Guyanese.
‘Flyover’ the Heroes Highway
Speaking at the commissioning of the Ogle-Eccles Highway, President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced the construction of a ‘flyover’ along the Heroes Highway on the East Bank of Demerara.
The ‘flyover’ is an addition to the road now being constructed linking the Ogle-Eccles Highway to the new Demerara River Crossing.
“That new (Demerara River) bridge is going to be connected to the new highway. That work is already nearing completion…then the third connection, there would be a flyover of the new Heroes Highway. It will be seamless and there will be no stoppage of traffic on the Heroes Highway or for the traffic coming all the way to the East Coast. So that’s interconnectivity,” President Ali said.
A network of interconnected roads
President Ali further explained that the network of interconnected roads will link the Rupert Craig Highway on the East Coast to villages on the East Bank of Demerara all the way to Buzz Bee Dam (Craig).
“And those projects are almost complete, some completed, and some will be completed long before September. And the Ministry of Housing and Water is doing an extraordinary job in pushing that leg of the highway to be completed.“
Aubrey Barker Road interconnection
President Ali further boasted about the road connection between Aubrey Barker Road and Georgetown. He said that the Conversation Tree will be interconnected with new developments in Cummings Lodge, and this, in turn, will be connected to Eccles and Diamond and further up to Buzz Bee Dam.
Houston interconnection
According to President Ali, design is currently underway for another four-line highway connecting Ogle-Eccles Highway to Houston and the existing East Bank Highway.
‘A spectacle like the new Demerara River Bridge‘
Addressing the connection from Buzz Bee Dam to Land of Canaan on the East Bank of Demerara, President Ali said that contracts have already been awarded for this phase of road works, pointing out that there will be several interconnections along Caneville, Diamond, and Grove on the East Bank corridor.
“We have already completed the design of the connection from the Land of Canaan to the new Soesdyke-Linden Highway that will be alongside the new Silica City that will be opening up thousands of acres of land,” said President Ali, proclaiming that it is going to be “a spectacle just like the new Demerara River Bridge.“
Roads that function like ’causeways’
According to the president, some of these roads, from an engineering perspective, will function like ’causeways’ – a raised road over low or wet ground.
“Those of you who travel, and you go to Tampa, would know that in these swampy areas that the roads are constructed as a ‘causeway’…So, the design for the Land of Canaan to Linden-Soesdyke is already completed. We then have the new Linden-Soesdyke Highway under construction right now, complete reconstruction and expansion,” President Ali said.
Sheriff Street Highway expansion
According to the head of state, the Sheriff Street Highway expansion on the railway embankment will stretch to Mahaica, East Coast Demerara. He said it will be two and four lanes to facilitate the increasing traffic.
E-Traffic Management System
These massive interconnections will see the implementation of the Electronic Ticketing System, and a new E-traffic management system that the government will be rolling out soon. With this new system, commuters will be notified of traffic conditions ahead and could decide to take an alternate route in the event of congestion.
“So, we are going to interconnect the cameras in high-volume traffic areas to give us what we call E-Traffic Management. E-Traffic Management will be linked to the screens that you see along the road, which will be able to tell drivers how you need to divert based on what is happening ahead of you, based on (what) is happening behind you.“
Noting that the People’s Progressive Party is building a first-class country for its citizens, the President said that the e-traffic management system will offer drivers and commuters real-time information from an app on their smartphones. (Department of Public Information)
