EBD Traffic madness: “We will review it tomorrow”- Traffic Chief

A scene along the East Bank Demerara on Wednesday morning

Traffic Chief, Senior Superintendent Linden Isles on Wednesday morning said that the decision to abandon the use of a third on the East bank Demerara would be reviewed on Thursday.

Several efforts to get from the Traffic Chief as to whose decision it was to close off the third lane were only met with “we will review the situation tomorrow”

Yesterday motorists were given a shock when they drove into the ‘madness and chaos’ on the East Bank as the traffic coming from south of the Demerara Harbour Bridge and those coming from West Demerara merged at the junction of the bridge and East bank Carriage.

That effectively caused a backed up of traffic all the way to providence on the East Bank Demerara as far as Vreed-en Hoop on the West Coast Demerara and La Grange on the West Bank of Demerara.

The police had also abandoned the two lanes of traffic on the Demerara Harbour Bridge. The decision of the Guyana Police Force to abandon those arrangements which have been in place for several years can best be described as a regress from the progress.

Traffic cones in the middle of the road at the Junction of Demerara Harbour Bridge and East Bank Demerara Highway which has been adding to the confusion

The third lane on the East Bank Demerara and the making of the Demerara Harbour bridge a two lane for traffic heading east, Monday through Fridays were implemented to ease the traffic congestion which were associated to thousands of persons traveling to the city in the morning rush hours for school and work.

“Can you get from the Traffic Chief or the Commissioner of Police what the hell is going on with the traffic, why they shut down this third lane on the East bank Road and have the traffic all messed up on the West Bank and the East Bank of Demerara, I mean whose stupid idea was this?” a senior government functionary questioned this morning.

Since Tuesday the police were called upon to explain the rationale behind the move after many motorists and commuters were stranded in the traffic for hours but the force, did not address the concerns.

The haphazard arrangement has also brought added stress to the traffic ranks along the route as they are forced to ensure the flow of the traffic while at the same time, caution those who sought to bore the long lines of traffic in an effort to get to their destinations on time.

The almost empty south bound lane along the East Bank Demerara which, part of which was used as a third lane to take traffic north of the East Bank Bank Demerara

“Tomorrow we are going to review this thing, the third lane, we are not using the third lane presently right but we are going to review it tomorrow” Traffic Chief Isles noted

In the meantime, while the traffic is backed up for miles on the East Bank and West coast and banks of Demerara, the traffic heading south (towards Timehri) continues to enjoy a free flow although the volume is not as significant as what exists on the other side of the carriageway.

The traffic noted that the force does see that there is a problem with the new arrangement and stated that the police will have a presence on the ground tomorrow.