A very large and involved town hall meeting was held at Briar Hall Wednesday night with outspoken residents from the surrounding areas agreeing with technocrats from the Ministry of Public Works that something should be done to eliminate accidents along the Errol Barrow stretch of the ABC?Highway.
However, at the end of the three-hour exchange, no consensus was reached as to what action would be acceptable.
Minister of Public Works John Boyce and MP for the area, Stephen Lashley attended the meeting along with a battery of personnel from the ministry.
Residents heard that the Jersey Barriers were necessary to stop people from crossing along that stretch of highway. However, many were concerned that the planned blockage of the turn across the highway at the Graeme Hall junction would pose a problem of extended driving for motorists.
The technical officers said the bars would reduce the vision of the motorist attempting to cross two lanes of traffic and that could increase the dangers at that junction.
Even so, the sticking point of the night was the revelation of plans to block the exit from Graeme Hall onto the highway and to create a link road behind the pavilion at Briar Hall.
The concern was that such a move would increase the traffic along the Briar Hall road which was already a problem since it was poorly lit and did not have sidewalks.
Sports administrator George Lascaris and several other speakers suggested that the stretch of road from Graeme Hall to Sheraton also lacked sidewalks and were dangerous to pedestrians.
Constable Dwayne Davis, of the Worthing Police?Station, indicated that motorists entering the highway from the Graeme Hall junction often found difficulty in gauging the speed of the two lanes of traffic and that caused numerous accidents and injuries in the area.
While the audience accepted the need for changes in the interest of safety, some felt they might shift the traffic and dangers to another area, the Briar Hall road. (KB)
