Overturned truck causes major traffic jam on East Bank corridor

Sep 17, 2020 News

It was madness yesterday, after hundreds of commuters were left stranded for hours in a major traffic jam along the East Bank of Demerara (EBD). The traffic jam was caused by an overturned truck on the Diamond Public Road.

The overturned truck along the Diamond, East Bank Demerara Public Road.

According to police, the truck, overladen with a cargo of wood, overturned at around 10:30hrs in the vicinity of the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL).
The truck was reportedly heading towards Georgetown when the incident occurred. Police said that the driver had sustained minor injuries and left to receive medical attention.Nevertheless, the overturned truck had blocked the entire western carriageway and caused a major traffic build up which stretched miles.

Traffic jam along the East Bank Demerara.

Traffic ranks were forced to use a lane from the eastern carriageway to facilitate traffic flow towards the city.
The traffic jam lasted for almost six hours leaving many trapped. Some missed meetings, other missed appointments, while others were unable to turn up for work on time.
A number of Kaieteur News staffers were also trapped in the traffic jam. One staffer said that he left his home in Diamond close to 11:00hrs heading for Georgetown to tie up some business but was unable to do so. Realizing the predicament, the staffer said that he decided to return home. However, this was not without its challenges since it took about four hours to navigate his return.
Another staffer said he left his house at around 12:00hrs and because of the traffic jam, he arrived at work at around 16:00hrs.
Even a prominent businessman was caught in the madness and was forced to use zoom to meet with his staff for a 15:00hrs meeting.
After “crawling” in the traffic, the man said that he realized that it made no sense for him to continue, so he decided to park his car at a location along the East Bank in order to host his meeting via zoom.
The fallout from the traffic jam was a reoccurring tale told by many frustrated persons, several of whom stressed the need for alternative routes to avoid such a dilemma.
Police late yesterday afternoon were finally able to remove the truck and its cargo from the roadway and traffic was restored to normalcy.