[UPDATED] Road paving leads to traffic jam in Cocorite

A paving exercise in Cocorite along the Western Main Road caused significant traffic jam coming out of west Trinidad yesterday.

Traffic was backed up in Carenage, Diego Martin and Cocorite as the Ministry of Works and Transport and paved the left eastbound lane from Cocorite Terrace to the overpass separating the Western Main Road from the Audrey Jeffers Highway.

Work started around 6.30 am and was expected to be completed before noon but a broken water line delayed the exercise. A ministry official explained that background checks were made but one water line was unaccounted for. The line was broken when the top layer of the road was removed. The official said it was necessary to call in the Water and Sewerage Authority to fix the line, which started around 10.30 am, before the road paving could be completed.

At one point, the road to the highway was blocked off which left drivers no choice but to continue along the Western Main Road into St James, adding to the traffic there. However, one lane was opened around 10 am which slightly eased the situation.

One Diego Martin taxi driver said it took him two hours to get to Port of Spain yesterday morning and after that he refused to go into Diego Martin. Instead, he worked up to West Shore Medical Centre before turning around and heading back to town.

A Carenage driver said he started work at 5.30 am and up to 11 am had made only four trips compared to his usual of six. He too stopped his route short, refusing to head into Carenage but rather stopping at West Mall after it took him an hour and a half to get out of Carenege.

This story was updated with additional details. The original story is below.

A paving exercise in Cocorite, along the Western Main Road, caused significant traffic jam coming out of west Trinidad, this morning.

Traffic was backed up in Carenage, Diego Martin and Cocorite as the Ministry of Works and Transport milled and paved the left eastbound lane, from Cocorite Terrace to the overpass, separating the Western Main Road from the Audrey Jeffers Highway.

Works started around 6.30 am and was expected to be complete before noon but a broken water line delayed the exercise.