THE $18M Barr Street Bridge in Albouystown, which has been out of order for several months, is expected to be back up by mid-February, City Engineer Colvern Venture announced recently.

Constituency Councillor Malcolm Ferreira raised the issue again at the City Council’s last statutory meeting and requested to be informed of when the bridge would be completed.
Venture then stood up to say that a redesign of the bridge had to be done due to the fact that water from the trench was touching the beams and hence they had to be elevated to prevent this.
After consulting with the contractor, Chung’s Global Construction Firm, Venture said the bridge should be back in use by mid-February.
Ferreira, in an earlier interview, had told this newspaper that the money for the bridge was coming from City Hall as Government, despite repeated requests, did not provide any assistance.

According to him, the work that remains to be done is not very complex and hence, the bridge should be back in order sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, Proportional Constituency Councillor Heston Bostwick had raised the issue of Albouys Street having to now face the pressure. He noted further that the bridge at Hunter and Sussex Streets is also sinking.

He had expressed concern that vehicles would soon be unable to use any of the Albouystown links, as the other bridges surrounding the one at Barr Street are now feeling the pressure.
The councillor has observed that the bridges at Hill Street and Albouys Streets are becoming affected, as they now have to deal with more traffic than usual.

The Barr Street bridge serves as a key alternative to the La Penitence Public Road for vehicles coming from the East Bank of Demerara and heading to central Georgetown.
The closure of this bridge contributes to a severe build-up of traffic in contiguous areas, and many of the streets in Albouystown are too narrow to accommodate two-way traffic.
Albouystown has long been regarded as a ‘high-crime’ area, causing motorists to be hesitant about using the streets surrounding Barr Street.