Traffic Chief blames rain for major Harbour Bridge delay
Persons travelling between the East and West banks of Demerara were stuck for hours on Friday night due to a disruption in the flow of traffic, which Traffic Chief Dennis Stephen has blamed on heavy rainfall experienced throughout the day and which continued into the evening.
In an invited comment, Stephen told Sunday Stabroek the traffic was stalled since persons were forced to reduce their speed to traverse over the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB), which was wet. “It is customary if it is raining persons would have to reduce their speed so that would have been a major cause of the build up,” Stephen told Sunday Stabroek.
Stephen said apart from the continuous rainfall, there was also several “heavy, large” vehicles which were proceeding to the Providence area at the time, resulting in a “hold up” in the traffic.
In order to control the situation, Stephen said that ranks were dispatched to the affected areas. “It is customary that the ranks be placed there in the morning and the said ranks work in the afternoon….The ranks are placed from the Mandela/Hunter Street straight to the Harbour bridge,” he explained.
He could not say at what time the situation eased and traffic began to flow smoothly.
Stephen further explained that due to the rain on Friday, commuters who normally traverse the East Bank route in the afternoon hours experienced a delay and this contributed to the situation since there was a clash with the afternoon and evening traffic.
“What normally happen is that the persons who use the bridge are mostly persons who are proceeding on the West Coast of Demerara…. So what you find is because of the raining persons who would normally proceed around, for example at 3. The 3 o’clock persons got caught up with the 4 o’clock traffic,” he further explained.
“So everyone caught up at the same time utilizing the same space, competing,” Stephen said.
According to Stephen, the police also communicated with authorities at the DHB and two lanes were used on the bridge to clear traffic from the westen side. “Even with the third lane last night (Friday) persons had to proceed slowly because the bridge was wet,” he noted.
Other information reaching Sunday Stabroek revealed that the situation arose since “special” arrangements were put in place to accommodate persons who attended the Guyana Police Force sports, which was held on Friday at the Leonora Track and Field Centre.
After being stuck in the traffic for prolonged periods, a number of motorists aired their frustration on social media site, Facebook. Some related that they were in the traffic from as early as 7pm.
The traffic was reportedly built up from as far as Mandela Avenue.
One woman, who wished not to be named, told Sunday Stabroek that she was on the DHB for an hour without any movement. As a result of this, she said some opted to disembark their vehicles and walk over the bridge while others were left with no other choice but to toe the line until they crossed.
“Could never b I left GT at 9.15PM and it is 11PM and I’m still on this East Bank road waiting to cross the Demerara Harbour Bridge #Wow,” Tammy Garnett wrote on her Facebook page. “This traffic situation is heartless, uncaring and inconsiderate of ppl’s lives and schedules,” she added.