Lost hour in traffic
WORKERS such as me, who travel daily from Nausori to Suva via Princes Rd, face long and never-ending queues like all others. Sometime back, the humps at Tamavua Village were removed and daily commuters noticed that this had an impact on the morning and afternoon traffic thus, saving us some time.
Recently, the hump is back again, and I personally find that I am late to work daily by 40 minutes while leaving home at 6.50am to drop off my primary and high school children to school along the way. Some may argue to leave home earlier but I have my reason. For safety reasons for my children, this is the best time for me to leave home for work as an influx of other children coming to school is also around the same time.
Coming back to the issue, I cross Raintree Lodge before 7.20am and drive past Tamavua humps after 8.30am. Once we pass the humps, the traffic is light-flowing and takes about 10-15mins to reach work. This happens daily to me and thousands others.
Can FRA and the Prime Minster and Deputy Prime Ministers and Minister for Infrastructure come one morning and see the queue at 8am and later. We’re all late to work and to cover for the lost time, I have to spend those lost 40-50 minutes in the afternoon before I sign off for the day.
Could FRA respond on why the humps came back? Does FRA have any data for the past 8-10 months on traffic flow without hump and 2-3 weeks of data with humps? Thousands of people such as me from Nausori and beyond are affected daily. Who is making these kinds of decisions that impact thousands like us?
Was putting up rail on both sides of Tamavua Village considered with and two well painted zebra crossings considered or discussed with villagers?
Can something be done as this is getting worse daily.
DHARMENDRA LAL
Nausori