The Ministry of Public Works has overlaid La Penitence carriageway from Punt Trench Dam to Broad Street as it plans to turn that stretch into a two-way road to ease traffic congestion during peak hours
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Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn, Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee and engineers held a meeting on this issue in August, a press release from Government Infor-mation Agency (GINA) said.
Road and Traffic Safety Engineer Nigel Erskine said asphalt was applied to the road on Thursday and Friday.
GINA said workers had painted two lanes 11 feet wide and ‘no parking signs’ on the western side. Erskine said during the morning periods there is a tremendous build-up of traffic from the Demerara Harbour Bridge leading into Georgetown and the decision was taken to relieve traffic congestion.
“Currently vehicles can only come into Georgetown through Lombard Street, but what we are trying to facilitate here is to have another alternative entrance into the city. The entire carriageway into Saffon Street has been overlaid to allow free movement to two lanes of traffic in either direction,” he said. Erskine noted that with the completion of the two lanes vehicles would now be allowed to travel through Saffon Street and enter the city either from Sussex or Broad street, using the secondary roads leading into the city.
GINA said the road has been one-way from 6 am to 6 pm for several years. A meeting is set for tomorrow with stakeholders, stallholders and the business community to discuss this change as it would require vendors to re-locate. “We will however have to work out arrangements as to how vendors would be required to off-load their goods at the market.
What we plan to do is rehabilitate the bridge on the northern side of the market, so that vendors would be able to off-load their goods,” Erskine said.
