More than a quarter of Barbados’ “paved road network” needs fixing and Government is planning to respond with a $40 million solution.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says it has received a loan application for a “road rehabiliation and improving connectivity of road infrastructure” project that would see the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) managing improvements to “130 sections of road infrastructure in the primary and secondary network which are in need of interventions in order to improve connectivity”.
The list reportedly includes “roads that are in poor conditions, roundabouts in accident black spots, and traffic congested junctions”.
The IDB’s board of executive directors is scheduled to consider the $40 million loan on September 2, but initial project information revealed that “the decline in budget resources has resulted in deferred actions contributing to 30 per cent of the paved road network being in need of corrective maintenance, rehabilitation or upgrading”.
It is projected that the majority of the loan – $33 million – would be spent on civil works, including “the rehabilitation and improvement of roads, construction of roundabouts and sidewalks, rehabilitation of bridges and culverts, features to reduce congestion and improve safety, and a pilot programme for outsourced routine road maintenance”.
Barbados has 1 750 kilometres of roadways, 80 per cent of them paved, but 30 per cent which are now deemed “in poor condition”.
“Road based transportation on the island is facilitated through a fleet of approximately 115 000 vehicles of which 5 000 are heavy trucks, and 600 are public transport vehicles. In the last decade, the country has seen a rapid change in traffic patterns due to the increasing number of motor vehicles on the roads. However, there has not been much adaptation of the infrastructure or its management to complement this increase,” information from MTW noted.
“This has directly resulted in difficulty in transport logistics, increased number of road accidents (not fatal accidents), and indirectly in the loss of man hours and ambience which are all important to a tourism economy.
“The problem facing the Barbados road subsector is a systemic one driven by rising demand through an increasing vehicle fleet and the need for tourism and freight logistics to support competitiveness.
“In addition, road maintenance, rehabilitation, and upgrade and also safety requirements are affected by budget constraints.”
