Telling it like it is: project manager with 3S, George Siddall (left), speaking to the road improvement project in the Wildey area during yesterday's Brass Tacks. Others (clockwise from left) are Richard Gittens, project manager; David Scantlebury of the Ministry of transport; moderator Peter Wickham; and (backing) BAPE representative, Lt. Col. Trevor Browne.

by CAROL-ANN TUDOR

Recent traffic changes in Wildey came under scrutiny yesterday with the Barbados Association of Professional Engineers (BAPE) calling for a National Traffic Management Plan.

In a heated discussion on Brass Tacks Sunday, led by moderator Peter Wickham, callers also posed several questions and aired their concerns on how the changes were affecting them.

From last Sunday the stretch of road between Shell and Texaco Wildey converted to a one-way street in the direction of Bridgetown, while the Wildey to BET stretch became a one-way road.

Lieutenant Colonel Trevor Browne, BAPE's representative on the programme, which focused on Operation Freeflow – The Wildey Traffic Changes, noted the problem of congestion not only pertained to Wildey and the ABC Highway, but was an issue islandwide.

The engineer said everyone seemed to be looking for a magical way to solve the problem, but the fact was Barbados was one of the most densely populated countries in the world in terms of vehicles.

"You cannot have 120 000 vehicles in an island of 166 square miles and not have congestion. It is physically impossible. I think what we are trying to do is make the best of a bad situation," he said.

National plan

Browne said a national plan needed to be implemented that looked at issues such as what was the optimum traffic vehicle density for Barbados, how to achieve it, how to maintain it, and dealing with the situation if the number of vehicles exceeded it.

He queried the national strategy in terms of public transport, saying it would be refreshing for the general public to hear a plan on where we are now, and where we intend to be in a decade and the path to get there.

Addressing the issue of the Wildey triangle, Browne said that while there were some areas of concern, there needed to be more discussion on the changes.

"The only way to solve the problems that we face, especially these complex technical problems, is by consensus, and for us to agree on an approach that we all need to learn to live with and to have the flexibility to listen to those upset people and to look at the pros and the cons," he added.

Meanwhile, project manager with Structural Steel Solutions (3S), George Siddall, has been urging patience while dealing with the traffic situation in the area.

Gridlock

"We would like to assure everybody that traffic flows through this region will be bettered substantially as a consequence of our project," he said.

Siddall added that roundabouts were a good traffic management solution, provided that the volume of traffic allowed them to get there.

However, if the volume was too great, it would cause a gridlock at the roundabout, which is where the flyovers would come in and help free up the intersection and promote better flow of traffic, he added.

He said the reason ongoing work was taking so long in the area near Sagicor's corporate offices was "because of delays due to a profusion of underground services that was taking longer to sort out than anticipated".

Additional month

The manager said the work wasto be completed initially by the end of May, but because of the delays, the completion to the road widening would now take at least an additional month.

He said the use of the flyovers was still under review by the new Democratic Labour Party government and as far as he was aware, no decisions had yet been made.

Moderator Peter Wickham queried whether it was logical and wise to have made these major changes to the traffic flow while construction work was still ongoing.

A caller to the programme also took issue with Sidall for saying the traffic had improved.

"I leave home every day between 6 and 7 a.m. and now I see a crazy pile-up from Garfield Sobers [Sports Complex] and from Sheraton Centre. There has been no improvement from Banks/Wildey even though there is a new triangle," he said.

Another caller queried who was authorised to make changes to the traffic flow, saying it was a waste of time digging up so much of the road, instead of fixing one stretch at a time, and inconveniencing the public.

Representative of the Ministry of Transport, Works and International Business, Dave Scantlebury, said he had noticed the peak in traffic between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. over the past two to three months, especially in Sargeants Village area.

As a result, his ministry was looking at removing one of the previous restrictions, and allowing a right through Forde's Road to help ease the congestion.