As complaints continue to pour in regarding the condition of the Grove Public Road, the Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, yesterday announced that the Grove bypass road currently under construction is slated for light traffic.
“We just made a decision that as much as the bypass is not completed, we will start to divert all light traffic through the Grove/Diamond area, using the new bypass at Third Avenue that will go across the newly constructed bridge and will get out back to the main road.” Edghill said.
The announcement by Edghill came on the same day that Stabroek News reported the lamentations of Grove residents over the state of the public road.
Stabroek News following up on several complaints, visited the area and observed several craters in the road, along with some parts of the asphalt cracking and several instances of uneven road surfaces.
During the visit, residents also pointed out that the sand at the sides of the road is a nuisance, as it creates a very dusty environment.
Edghill, while noting their concerns, stated that since Saturday, the authorities have been observing and monitoring, in an effort to make an intervention, after he had noticed some deterioration occurring in some spots on the public road.
The minister added that the only way the work could be done properly was by making sure that the equipment to be used could be facilitated in the area.
“We have made several interventions to keep the road in a shape that everyone could use and keep traffic flowing. Those interventions have been successful and, in some instances, unsuccessful, mainly because the gravity of the work that needs to be done would mean that we cannot have traffic on the corridor while the work is being executed. So, we have developed a plan and that plan is to make a bypass which will come through Diamond and will come out at Jimbo Bridge and further up. So, the corridor where we have difficulties is easily accessible for machines and constrictions at the same place… Even if we come out at ten in the morning or two in the night, to get work done on that road, without having a diversion for traffic, we can’t get anything done.”
He stressed that with the opening of the bypass no trucks will be allowed.
“No truck will be allowed through this bypass because it’s not completed as yet. The trucks will have to continue to use the main access road and we will do so in an orderly way in a phased manner, so that they will be able to get a pass.”
The Ministry’s Special Projects Unit has been tasked with carrying out works on the Grove public road.
