by TREVOR YEARWOOD

POOR STREET LIGHTING, heavy vehicular traffic and flooding are among the worries people living near Kensington Oval have as Barbados prepares to play host to some of the world's best cricketers and thousands of fans in 2007.

Residents of areas such as the New Orleans said their streets were clogged with traffic whenever the Oval hosted international matches.

Things were so bad sometimes that they could hardly get out of their houses, one woman complained.

The issues came up when representatives from World Cup Barbados, their consultants, and a senior officer of the Ministry of Public Works gave an update on the Kensington Oval cricket redevelopment project last Thursday evening.

They were meeting in St Leonard's Church with people living near the famous cricket ground, essentially to hear their views on the possible impact of the changes, which included resiting some residents.

Among those attending the meeting were: chief executive officer of World Cup Barbados (WCB), Stephen Alleyne; WCB's chief facilities development officer, Miles Weekes; consultant Janice Cumberbatch; principal of Stantec Consulting (Caribbean) Limited, Andrew Hutchinson; and Senior Technical Officer Sharon Griffith of the Ministry of Public Works.

People living near the Oval told them heavy cricket-bound traffic and poor drainage that led to flooding whenever it rained hard, were the two major problems and they were hoping the redevelopment project would offer some solutions.

On drainage, Hutchinson admitted that the terms of reference of the project did not stretch as far as "addressing the problems of the Orleans".

But Griffith said the traffic problems would be tackled, with the Orleans being part of a "traffic restricted zone".

A number of streets in the Orleans would be designated one-way and passes would be given to residents to facilitate them, Griffith said.

Fontabelle Road and Kensington New Road would also be one-way lanes during cricket days, but Pickwick Gap, once a major conduit to the Oval, would be a cul-de-sac.

Griffith also said traffic lights were planned for two areas near the Oval – the Lakes Folly/Fontabelle intersection and the Redman's Drive/Prescod Boulevard corner.

Pedestrian lights were also planned for areas near the Oval which had "high pedestrian volumes", she reported.

Opposition Democratic Labour Party candidate for The City, Patrick Todd, also told the meeting there were areas near the Oval where the lighting was poor, among them "the Fontabelle stretch" and Westbury Road.

He said the problems had to be a priority because when the World Cup was held, "the eyes of the world would be upon us, so we cannot afford to foul up".