Safety first, says board

The Transport Board says it’s putting safety above swiftness of travel in the case of people disadvantaged by the closure of the Joe’s River Bridge in St Joseph.Some St Joseph residents have complained  that they were now spending an additional  45 to 90 minutes to get to and from Bridgetown because of the longer route taken  by their Bathsheba bus. However, the board’s manager of marketing and corporate communications, Lynda Holder, told reporters yesterday: “We appreciate that it is a long route but it is the safest alternative that between us and MTW (Ministry of Transport and Works) we can project  at this time.” Holder made the comments when officials of the board visited the  damaged bridge yesterday morning. She admitted that using the neighbouring Ridge Road would shorten the trip but pointed out that this road was in need of “remedial work”  to make it  “a safe alternative”. She said commuters had also suggested a shuttle service to one side of the bridge, allowing commuters  to cross the bridge to take another bus. “That bridge is not in any condition for people  to take the risk of walking over,” she commented.  “In particular, if you slip, if you damage yourself then, we cannot be held accountable for things like that, so we cannot take on the responsibility of introducing that particular type of proposal.”Board chairman Pedro Stanford appealed to commuters to be patient, saying the bus company had “tried one or two solutions that haven’t really worked”, including a shuttle service.The turning area for the shuttle was fine  when conditions were dry but proved untenable  when the ground was wet, he explained.The Democratic Labour Party’s prospective candidate for the area, Guyson Mayers, also asked commuters to exercise patience, saying: “There are some things that (the voard) may be able to do differently but I cannot think of anything that they could do better.” The Bathsheba bus now takes in Bonwell, Easy Hall, Malvern, Clifton Hall, part of the Martins Bay route and Foster Hall before moving to Bathsheba and the edge of the Joe’s River Bridge. An earlier voard statement said this route would be in place on all days except on Sundays when the buses would also traverse Horse Hill. “However, to assist people who will be displaced  by this change, an additional service to Horse Hill has been provided and this will continue until further notice, running from Monday to Saturday,”  the board said. (TY)