Road woes

WITH MAJOR traffic blues already being experienced in The City, new cracks have emerged in Barbados’ road network, making life especially difficult for residents in St Joseph and St Andrew.  
A huge section of the road at Dark Hole, St Joseph, broke away on Sunday night following the rupture of an underground water main during the passage of Tropical Storm Tomas. This forced authorities to shut off access by vehicular traffic yesterday.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport and Works further indicated that remedial work might also be necessary after reports of chasms being visible at Vaughan Road, St Joseph, and Greenland, St Andrew.
In the meantime, it remains unclear when Wharf Road in The City will be reopened. Initially, the road was closed after huge cracks appeared on the surface.
Acting Chief Technical Officer (CTO) in the Ministry of Transport and Works, Nash Lovell, said consultants had been called in after preliminary findings based on two dives determined the damage to be “unexplainable”.  
Preliminary findings indicate remarkable deterioration of the slabs of the two stormwater drains running laterally under the Wharf Road, as well as several exposed reinforcements on the “invert of the two culverts”.
Lovell said further investigations needed to be carried out, but revealed that a comprehensive analysis of the findings and a recommendation for remedial actions would be submitted by the team of experts by Friday, November 12.
While the acting CTO said work could take a little more than two weeks, consultant Guy Griffith believes it may be longer. He said from “an engineering viewpoint” it could be in the region of four to six weeks before the road was opened again.
As a result of the closure of the road, the ministry has instituted some traffic changes to seek to ease the congestion caused by the closure of the Wharf Road.
But the changes were yesterday met by mixed views from motorists, many of whom complained of extremely long waits.
 “We had feedback of 50 minutes from Kensington Oval to Broad Street and from Community College down to Bridgetown,” noted police Inspector Leon Blades.
Blades said traffic flow was heavy all around The City because all the side roads leading into Broad Street were affected. He suggested an alternative for easing the gridlock.
“We think that two-way traffic on Broad Street would work better because there is less turning movement.  We can have loops but when we look at the practical situation on the ground it is proving some challenges but we will work with the ministry to alleviate that.”
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Works, Lionel Nurse, said a park and ride system had also been discussed, but its effectivenesss would depend on how many Barbadians were willing to utilise the system. (MB/CT)