Only motorists with ‘priority access’ can drive through ‘Old Road’ - West Dem Police Commander

Only motorists with ‘priority access’ can drive through ‘Old Road’ – West Dem Police Commander

Nov 13, 2020 News

Region Three Police Commander, Errol Watts (left) and his ranks with a representative of the Harbour Bridge with copies of the ‘Priority Access’ passes which were handed over to the Harbour Bridge engineers.

Kaieteur News – Police Commander of Region Three, Errol Watts, made it clear yesterday that only motorists with ‘Priority Access’ will be allowed to use the La Grange ‘Old Road.’
That road leads up to the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) on the West Bank Demerara (WBD), and has been a source of problems for commuters and police ranks, controlling traffic to the bridge.
At peak traffic hours, the access road is abused, leading to bottlenecks. Commuters accuse police ranks of allowing their friends to access that bypass.
A driver in a harsh letter published in the Thursday’s edition of Kaieteur News, raised the issue of the number of vehicles permitted to use the bypass access road.
The concerned motorist stated that at least 50 vehicles are allowed to pass in the morning hours despite police presence at the entrance.
The driver speculated that it seems as if “some drivers have links in the (police) force.”
Watts, however, explained yesterday that “only motorists with ‘priority access’ (a pass given by police) and those who reside within La Grange old and the main road going east and then north to the police outpost at the harbour bridge can use the ‘priority adopted access road’.”
Kaieteur News learnt that to obtain one of these priority access passes, strict requirements must be met which includes recommendations from the relevant authorities.
Yesterday, seven engineers employed with DHB were granted ‘Priority Access’ passes to use the access road.
The Commander was on site to hand over the vehicle passes to the engineers.
The harbour bridge is a major pain to tens of thousands who live on the West Demerara area.
However, its efficiency has been a major cause for congestion on the East Bank corridor, forcing the new administration to fast-track plans to build a new bridge.
In the meantime, the current bridge management, together with the police, has been working on a number of innovative measures to reduce congestion at peak times, in the morning and afternoon rush hours. These include one direction and two-lanes at specific times.