The planned widening of the northern carriageway of Carifesta Avenue as part of upgrading works has been abandoned over cost and other considerations.
In May, rehabilitation works had started on the road and it was stated then by Chief Works Officer Geoffrey Vaughn that the project was meant to upgrade the major thoroughfare to facilitate more traffic.
The upgrade also included a median and installation of lights on aluminium poles bearing the flags of Caricom countries as Guyana was preparing to co-host the July Caricom Heads of Government summit.
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure had also pointed out that the project was divided into two lots. One lot was awarded to H Nauth and Sons for the road works and another to Dynamic Engineering for the electrical works and installation of lights.
However, while most of the upgrade was finished by July 4, in time for Caricom Day, the extension and road works were not completed. Supervising Engineer Sherod Parkinson had explained that they were having a difficult time with GTT removing its utility poles to facilitate the extension, which was supposed to be about 1.8 metres on the northern side only.
The project was set to cost approximately $180M, which had included the removal of the poles. Up to Sunday, both carriageways had been resurfaced and the project is almost complete but the extension has not been done and Parkinson explained that a “full-scale” extension of the road was cancelled.
“We will do just enough widening to facilitate passing at the school [Marian Academy] and the National Park but will not be able to do a full-scale widening because of the GTT poles,” he told Stabroek News, disclosing that GTT had requested some $36 million to remove the poles, which was more than was budgeted for.
Parkinson explained that because of that they have opted out of extending the road and as such the total cost of the project would be lessened. Other works also have to be done. “Other works are going on that weren’t in the contract.
Like the culvert leading into the Kitty Pump station, extra concrete works to protect the light cables. They were not in the original plan so the cost will go down but then there are those other works,” Parkinson said.
With the installation of the median and the decision not to extend the northern carriageway, drivers may find that overtaking room on the thoroughfare has been diminished. This has however not discouraged minibus drivers.
Even though it has been a little over a month since the lights were installed, many of them have already stopped working and Parkinson said that the contractors will be tending to the lights this week to ensure that all are working properly.
Originally under the project, Carifesta Avenue was to be renamed Avenue of the Caribbean. This plan was also abandoned.
