$77M overhead pedestrian crossing for Diamond

Apr 23, 2017 News

– Works on three others to commence shortly

A contract for the sum of US$364,727 (approx. GYD$77M) has been awarded to contractor, S. Jagmohan Hardware Supplies and Construction Services to construct an overhead pedestrian crossing at Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
Works are expected to commence shortly.
Last year, the Government made known its intention to construct three overhead pedestrian walkways along the East Bank of Demerara.
This was divulged by the Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, 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.”
Diamond is now the fourth community to benefit from an overhead pedestrian crossing.
Earlier this month, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, announced the award of contracts for the construction of overhead crossings at Houston, Peter’s Hall and at Eccles.
The contract was awarded to B&J Civil Works in the sum of US$1,034,326 (approx. $207 million) Harmon had reported.
A source from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure told Kaieteur News yesterday that the construction of these crossing will also commence shortly. The contractor is about to begin mobilizing, the source said.
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.
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.
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 also 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 has been talk of several projects to reduce the traffic situation, including new roads, shifting bus parks and even better parking.
The construction of these overhead pedestrian crossings was viewed as a measure taken by the Government following concern over the number of fatalities being recorded annually.
Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson, at a recent road conference hosted in Georgetown, noted that someone dies on our roadways every two and a half days.
Presently, Guyana is experiencing a 10 percent decline in road fatalities when compared to the same period last year.

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