This is careless spending

Feb 02, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor
I was in South Ruimveldt Sunday afternoon. While walking across the PLAZA BRIDGE, I observed what I considered a prime example of waste.
I traversed that bridge last Sunday and was delighted to find that there was a defined walkway for pedestrian traffic moving between Aubrey Barker Street and Mandela Avenue. This week as I walked across the bridge I could not help but ask myself a question, which in reflection I realise is one which no citizen ought to ask. The reason for insinuating this dilemma is because it only spurred a series of questions, many of which are unanswerable.
The question that sprang to mind was, “What is the purpose of the rail on the eastern side of the bridge?” For your benefit if you have not been that way recently, on the eastern side of the link between Aubrey Barker Street and Mandela Avenue (extension of David Rose Street), a paved walkway, approximately eight inches higher than the road surface was recently constructed.
East of this walkway is the rail to which I refer. In other words the walkway is between the rail and the road. This is the sort of rail used for bordering highways especially alongside ditches and at dangerous bends. In effect these are crash rails to keep vehicles on the roads to avert excessive damage to limb and property. In this case in point beyond the rail is a fence approximately 20 feet away and the surface between the two is relatively flat, hence it is not placed to avert serious injury/damage.
The logical position of such a rail if it is deemed necessary should have been between the road and the walkway. In this way pedestrians would have been protected from out of control vehicles. As it is, at the moment the rail would increase the possible danger to a pedestrian on the walkway, if a vehicle is out of control. It would reduce the chances of that pedestrian escaping possible injury.
It also has the potential to increase the gravity of injury that may be inflicted for now not only would the person be struck, but there is also a likelihood that he/she may be crushed between the vehicle and the rail.
The location of this rail also raises a question of priority. Is it the most critical area for the placement of such a rail on our roads? While I do not have the statistics, I can easily name at least three areas on the East Bank Public Road where such rails are extremely necessary.
Rails aside, was it the best
use of the meager budget we set aside for road works? Certainly not. Just about one hour before walking across that bridge, I was on the Railway Embankment on East Coast Demerara.
That road is simply begging for some repairs. Some may say that the cost of rails at the Plaza Bridge would not suffice to do the embankment road, but I saw signs of other such rails going up at Vlissengen and Thomas Roads for instance.
I am ignorant about the decision-making process as far as such things are concerned, but I would certainly wish that those who are charged with such responsibilities exercise better judgement, as they spend our tax dollars and the loans which we’ll be forced to repay in the future.
Elton McRae

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