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The East Bank Demerara carriageway
The East Bank Demerara carriageway for sheer volume has to be unmatched; particularly from Grove to Georgetown and back. It is a daily ordeal for the assembly lines of residents, workers, and passers-through. Nothing could stand up to the bombardment of wheels and weight, unless sensible maintenance is part of usage and practices.
Access to and from the main national (and international) airport is through this now almost nonstop stretch of traffic. In addition to enormous regular daily flows, there are the taxis, families, and business machines that trek back and forth to that specific destination for possibly thousands, and which, in aggregate, add to the miseries at those points prone to bottlenecks, bad and deteriorating roads do nothing to lessen anxieties and buildups.
In the teeming village of Grove, where there is scant separation between well-travelled road packed with motor vehicles and well-peopled parapets. There is conspicuous evidence of the edges of the roads cracking, chipping, and crumbling. Once subjected to the unrelenting grind of daily travels, it is inevitable that wear will lead to more than tear. That is, unless mended through the interest, expense, and energies of government focused on maintenance. Not sporadic, cosmetic maintenance, but a programme of scheduled maintenance that keeps our roads in a state of good health through good loving care.
Deterioration could be noticed in several areas that beg for attention and some fixing. In a southerly direction near to the DSL business close to that high bridge, there is that which threatens personal safety and vehicular health. The holes are there; they are deepening and multiplying, as they are left unattended; following rains, the commute is made more difficult through pools at different points; they obscure deepening holes that jolt the unfamiliar.
Flooded after downpours on the western (northbound traffic flow) in and around Little Diamond; the holes, some large, all unwelcoming, wait to greet with jarring suddenness. Speeding and inexperience only make more distressing what for the longest while has proven to be a daily drain.
Along the internal Diamond access roads (easterly and westerly) from 17th to 21st Streets can be an endurance test of hinterland proportions. Many drivers are compelled to navigate on the other side in cat-and-mouse dodges with oncoming traffic; this is neither recommended nor safe. It can be tests of nerve, skill, and vehicular and internal fortitude.
To those congested pictures one can add the constant passage of loaded sand trucks and other machined beasts of burden; all loaded, all racing to some destination, all ignoring the danger areas and rushing pell-mell forward. The constant stress on surface asphalt and foundation takes a toll; potholes and other under maintained spots quickly give ground before the unending assault from the heavy-duty, the heavy-footed, and the uncaring heavy in the head.
At this point, fairness requires this acknowledgement. Some of the road construction efforts and results of recent point to a better finish, a longer lasting length of road, and general value for money. It could be that, because of the prior criticisms, there is more conscientious conduct from tender board managers, participant contractors, and overseeing engineers. Before there is any celebrating, it is acknowledged that there is a long way to go, with many roads to travel, before a satisfying state of consistency and quality could be recorded and applauded.
Still, in this unsteady interval of continuous conflicts about constitution, registration, elections, and the limits of ‘caretaker’ government, the routines and responsibilities of the day must go on with regularity. This must be the standard, even at a reduced pace. Much in terms of dollars and the little delivered as acceptable roads could be saved. Things must go on. In addition, there is reassurance that this society is not functioning in a state of suspension; and that citizens’ interests and governance obligations are in place and followed as a matter of normalcy. Simply good sense.
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