Houston abandoned… Nandy Park, La Grange named for new Demerara Bridge

Sep 27, 2020 News

The construction of the new crossing for the Demerara River, a hallmark project in the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic’s (PPP/C) manifesto, is set to land in Nandy Park, a residential area on the East Bank of Demerara.

An identified area in Nandy Park where traffic from the new Demerara Bridge will flow

It will connect to La Grange on the West Bank. This is a move away from what was decided by the former APNU+AFC administration – the Houston and Versailles area, West Bank Demerara as the sites for the new bridge.
These and other details of the bridge’s construction were shared by President Irfaan Ali and a team from the Public Works Ministry yesterday, during their visit to the proposed site for the new project.
President Ali and his team of engineers and officials inspected 4,000 feet of lands in the vicinity of Windsor Estates, an upscale gated community area aback of Providence. The President indicated to the press that because of where the channel is located in the Demerara River, which is closer to the Eastern side with a 5% degree grade, an additional 4,000 feet is necessary to get a proper gradient exiting out of the bridge.
Ali went on to say that the bridge will be a “flyover” that will stretch across the East Bank main road and then land into an identified area in Nandy Park, highlighted that it will be a fixed four-lane high-span bridge.
“Let me be very clear,” the President said, “we have to complete this bridge in the next four years.” He added that the Nandy Park area is the main interconnection, which will feed an additional four roads.
“The flow of traffic, if you want to put it this way, would be in a circular motion, connecting the East Bank, East Coast, Georgetown, and then moving further on to the Linden/ Soesdyke Highway,” he added.

Another area in Providence where the bridge will stretch over from the Demerara River.

The area for the proposed bridge falls between Nandy Park and Ramada Hotel/Princess Casino.
This new bridge is just one of the many infrastructural developments on the East Bank corridor, the President said.
He indicated that there will be an expansion of works commencing on roads, hotels and other infrastructural developments.
Against this, the Head-of-State explained that: “This will show the increase demand in terms of quarry material, labour and construction material. I think that if we continue to push this agenda, this development agenda, then we are getting into what you may call good wings pushing us forward. The output of these projects will be realized very early.”
It should be noted that the 40-year-old Demerara Harbour Bridge sees the commute of about 10,000 vehicles daily. It has been leading to major, daily congestion on especially the East Bank and Vreed-en-Hoop roads and the West Bank Demerara, thereby impeding on the citizen’s productivity and livelihoods.
Adding to this was the Junior Minister of Public Works, Deodat Indar, who related that: “We know that in Region Three, the population set and the density of the population because of the housing systems. Every morning, the commute is a horror. Everyone knows that, and we intend to fix

President Ali engaging with Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill and junior Public Works Minister, Deodat Indar

it. It is not a quick fix but we have to start and we are starting now.”
No costs on the new project were provided by Ali and his team, since the Expression of Interest (EoI) is being published this weekend.
He, however, expects that the expressions will be closed early in December and “immediately” after that, the government anticipates to make an early implementation.
The President further went on to say that the Inter-Agency Committee, which will come into effect in the new week, will examine and identify all the areas which will be affected by the construction of the new bridge.
“I think by the end of next week, you will see a lot of those [consultations] commencing. I am not sure how long it is scheduled to last because consultations are an ongoing thing because it starts from the time that the contract is conceptualized until the time the project is completed. So, it will last the lifetime of the project, and if you want a proper project planning and evaluation then it goes beyond the implementation lifecycle of the project.”

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