DIAMOND, East Bank Demerara will now be the fourth village to benefit from an overhead pedestrian crossing.

Minister of State,Joseph Harmon on Thursday said a contract in the sum of US$364,727 was awarded to S Jagmohan Hardware Supplies and Construction Services for work on the Diamond overhead pedestrian crossing.

Works are expected to commence shortly.

“You would recall that I had previously announced the award of US$1M contracts for the construction of overhead crossing at Houston, Peter’s Hall and at Eccles. This is an additional overhead crossing that’s going to be constructed.”

During last year, the Government had made known its intention to construct overhead pedestrian walkways.

With more than 10,000 vehicles entering the country every year, traffic congestion on key arteries leading to Georgetown continues to be a major bugbear.

This congestion has been contributing heavily to delays for workers at peak travel times – in the morning, between 07:00hrs and 09:00hrs, and evening – from 16:00hrs to 18:30hrs.

The East Bank Demerara road is among the busiest in the country, providing linkages to not only the villages along the way, but to the Demerara Harbour Bridge which leads to the West Demerara,Essequibo,Linden and by extension to the hinterland.

The Cheddie Jagan International Airport, the country’s main port, is located at Timehri, further compounding the situation.

Over the years, there have been talks of a number of projects to reduce the traffic situation, including new roads, shifting bus parks and even better parking.