The Ministry of Housing and Water has commenced work on a massive outlay of road infrastructure across the country.
One project that has captured the Ministry’s focus is a new alternative by-pass road stretching from Diamond, East Bank Demerara to Ogle, East Coast Demerara.
Subject Minister, Irfaan Ali has said the ministry has completed a number of road networks leading to Diamond, and these are soon to link the existing East Bank Demerara Road with the new alternative highway/by-pass that is to be constructed.
Primary connectors leading to Eccles, Providence, Herstelling, Perseverance, Mocha, and Covent Garden have all been constructed, and works are ongoing at Little Diamond.
In addition, construction of secondary connecting roads has almost been completed. Five of these stretches between Eccles and Herstelling have already been completed and are being used.
Flanked by members of the Private Sector, Minister Ali spoke to the media during a tour of an Eccles Housing Scheme on Monday. He said, “We are creating a new culture for the roadways in Guyana.”
He noted that it would help to interlink the East Bank Demerara all the way to Ogle via the by-pass. Ministry of Public Works, Roads and Bridges Department Manager Ron Rahaman noted that two of the lots will be completed by this year, and the other in the first quarter of 2015.
He noted that Lots Two and Three, with the exception of the Diamond High Bridge, are scheduled to be completed by December. The High Bridge would not be completed, as work has recently begun.
Currently, the contractors are working on driving piles on the western side of the bridge. The entire bridge is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year, along with Lot One.
Rahaman went on to explain that work on the second lot, being done by Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), is progressing well, with the second two-lane also having been completed.
He pointed out that the split-road design was done because of efficiency using an alternative to filling the trench.
“At that area, the trench was a bit wider than Lot One, so it would have taken a lot more back-filling, so completing it the way it was done was the better option in terms of safety and also cost wise, he said.
The East Bank Demerara four-lane road expansion project spans about 5.2 kilometres. It starts from the Guyana National Stadium at Providence and goes up to the Diamond intersection, and is being executed in three lots.
Lot One: from Providence to the Covent Garden Water Treatment Plant, is being done by Dipcon Engineering; Lot Two, from the Covent Garden Water Treatment Plant to Little Diamond by Gaico Construction, and from Little Diamond to Diamond Intersection, is being done by BK International.
Lot 3, which is being done under contract by BK International, has a hold up in construction because of the presence of utilities, thus the relocation of such issues has been resolved, and the work is in full swing.
Upon completion, the East Bank Demerara four-lane road expansion would facilitate one-way traffic heading north, while traffic on the new road will be heading south.
There would be turn-around access to get onto the other lane at the end of the splitting roads; however, three small bridges will be built for pedestrians and cyclists to cross over to either lane.
During last year, four loans and four technical cooperation operations were funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which is funding the completion of the third road rehabilitation project at East Bank/West Coast Demerara.
With the completion of the East Bank Demerara Four-Lane Expansion Projects, the traffic congestion, especially at peak hours, would be reduced significantly, thus allowing for a smoother and faster traffic flow.
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