$207M construction to begin on three overhead walkways for East Bank Dem.

Mar 18, 2017 News

Last year, the Government made known its intention to construct three overhead pedestrian walkways along the East Bank of Demerara.
This was communicated by the Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson,

An overhead pedestrian crossing in Singapore. (Photo Credit: www.ura.gov.sg)

during an event held at Agricola in May 2016.
Patterson had noted that it was important to look at ways to diagnose the urban transport situation in Guyana, adding that the Government is aware of the problems and trends.
“The Government of Guyana believes that it is high time that we deal with matters of public transport infrastructure, operations, financing, and institutional organization.”
During yesterday’s Post-Cabinet Press Briefing, Minister of State Joseph Harmon, announced that the contract was awarded and it is expected that works will commence shortly.
The contract was awarded to B&J Civil Works in the sum of US$1,034,326 (Approx G$207 million) Harmon reported.
The pedestrian overhead crossings will be located at the Harbour Bridge intersection at Peter’s Hall, Eccles and Houston. These sites were chosen following studies which showed that these three areas have the most pedestrian movement.
It is expected also, that these structures will significantly reduce accidents; save on travel time for commuters that reside along the eastern bank and also, precipitate a free flow of traffic at the sites.
Meanwhile, the construction of a vehicular overpass at the entrance to the Diamond Housing Scheme is still in the pipeline, a source from the Ministry said yesterday.
The source told Kaieteur News that tenders have already been opened for the construction of the structure at the intersection of Diamond and the East Bank Demerara Public Road. The Ministry of Public Infrastructure was listed as the procuring entity. The engineer’s estimate was announced at US$4.7M.
The project is in its final stage of evaluation, Kaieteur News was reliably informed.
With more than 10,000 vehicles entering the country every year, traffic congestion on key arteries leading to Georgetown continues to be a major bugbear.
This congestion has been contributing heavily to delays for workers at peak travel times – in the morning, between 07:00hrs and 09:00hrs, and evening – from 16:00hrs to 18:30hrs.
The East Bank Demerara road is among the busiest in the country, providing linkages to not only the villages along the way, but to the Demerara Harbour Bridge which leads to the West Demerara and Essequibo; to Linden, and by extension to the hinterland.
The Cheddi Jagan International Airport, the country’s main port, is located at Timehri, further compounding the situation.
Over the years, there have been talks of a number of projects to reduce the traffic situation, including new roads, shifting bus parks and even better parking.
Minister Harmon announced yesterday also, that a contract in the sum of $20,155,000 was awarded to Dax Construction Contracting Services to provide crash cushions and barriers, under the East Bank Demerara Four-Lane Extension Programme.

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