Speed it up

THE SUBSTANTIAL progress made on the Curepe interchange, notwithstanding budgetary constraints, is to be welcomed, as is Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan’s assurance that the project remains well within its $221 million budget and due for handover in March. However, in light of the pressing need to relieve traffic and given the many roads all over the country that still need to be fixed, we hold him to his statement that the interchange could soon be ready.

Though the minister and engineers from the contractor, China Railway Construction Corporation, found cause to celebrate on Sunday with the installation of a dozen key beams on the structure, they must surely be under no illusion as to the scale and complexity of the remaining task ahead, particularly if the timeline as set out by the minister is to be kept.

Major projects like this one often involve complex land acquisition processes which sometimes take years to wrap up, call for careful arrangements to be put in place in relation to maintenance after handover, and require attention to construction standards deployed.

Meanwhile, Sinanan and his ministry, as well as local government corporations, will have to turn their attention to the wider problems of the road network that call for action. Parts of the network are vulnerable to flooding; in some areas local government corporations sometimes run out of funds to fix potholes; improper work practices mean box drain construction sometimes damages roadways; and the perennial lack of co-ordination between agencies results in burst water mains damaging roads.

We want to see progress.

We welcome the slow but steady upgrades, but it’s hard to accept the fact that there are still places in the country where conditions are so bad only certain types of vehicles can traverse the road and even so must do so at a virtual snail’s pace.

Economic and logistic realities also dictate that by its nature the overall upgrade of the road network must be piecemeal. Yet it is important to get a sense that each project represents a piece of the puzzle, falling into place in the way the 12 beams of the interchange reportedly did on Sunday.

Sinanan noted the ultimate goal is to remove all traffic lights on the highway from Sangre Grande to Port of Spain. Along the way, two more interchanges are planned, one at Macoya and another at Piarco.

Tobago’s first road fatality for the year, at the intersection of the Claude Noel Highway and Wilson Road, Scarborough, has brought with it renewed focus on measures that could be put in place to make all roads – new or old – safer. Sinanan has assured legislation to make seatbelt use in the backseat compulsory is on the agenda.

All of these improvements need to be sped up.