Gov’t studying how to advance East Coast / East Bank bypass road project- feasibility study completed
Written by Gina Webmasters, Published in News, Georgetown, GINA, January 05, 2014, Source - GINA
Traffic on the East Bank corridor
In an effort to reduce traffic congestion for commuters on the East Bank of Demerara, Government is looking at constructing an ‘East Coast to East Bank’ bypass road, and in fact, the feasibility study for this link has been completed and discussion is ongoing, as it relates to the advancement of the project.
President Donald Ramotar, during his New Year’s message to the nation, said that this will catalyse US$65 million in investment, building 20 kilometres of roads and supporting infrastructure.
Moreover, the Head of State said that in the first half of 2015, “we will be constructing an alternative link between Diamond and Eccles, which will greatly relieve traffic congestion for commuters on the East Bank of Demerara.”
This new road, designed as a modern highway with international standards, will provide access for more than 480 acres of unutilised land, and will allow for the creation of new communities, targeting almost 1500 households, and further adding to the development of the East Bank corridor.
Over the past years, Government has been spending billions of dollars towards improving the country’s road infrastructure. The East Bank road is being extended into four lanes from Providence to Diamond with US$20M loan from the Inter American Development Bank (IDB). This project is expected to be completed during the course of this year.
Government had already built a four -lane road from Ruimveldt to Providence in light of the traffic congestion caused by several new housing schemes opening on the East Bank corridor, and the fact that there are about 10,000 vehicles added to the country’s roadways every year.
Work is also being undertaken to expand the East Coast road into four lanes from Better Hope to Annandale.