IN an effort to reduce the hassle of pedestrians having to cross busy streets, five pedestrian overpasses will be erected by the end of this year.

This was one of the items listed in the Ministry of Finance’s 2017 Mid-Year Report which was tabled in the National Assembly last week, by Finance Minister Winston Jordan.
According to the report, the pedestrian overpasses are being constructed “to address road safety concerns”.
Meanwhile, works have progressed on the foundation for the structures to be erected at Houston, Eccles, Peter’s Hall and Providence.
In April, Minister of State Joseph Harmon had announced that a contract to the tune of US$364,727 was awarded to S Jagmohan Hardware Supplies and Construction Services for work on a another overpass at the Diamond, East Bank of Demerara (EBD).
The minister had also announced the award of US$1M contracts for the construction of overhead crossings at Peter’s Hall and Eccles, also on the East Bank.
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 mornings, between 07:00hrs and 09:00hrs, and in the 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 West Demerara, Essequibo and beyond, but to Linden and the hinterland as well.
The report also highlighted that the proposal for a fixed bridge over the Demerara River is expected in the third quarter with final designs expected by end of the year. It was noted too that costing and options for an appropriate financing mechanism will also be prepared for consideration.
In relation to road networks, over $840M is expected to be advanced for preparatory works to commence the widening of the East Coast Demerara (ECD) Highway from Better Hope to Annandale and the improvement of the existing carriageway from Buxton to Belfield.
In addition, the report stated that a consultant for the design of the Linden to Mabura Hill road and the Kurupukari crossing will be contracted.

Meanwhile, expenditure on roads for the year included the rehabilitation and construction of selected roads under the Hinterland Roads Programme to the tune of $784M.
In addition, works progressed on the upgrading of roads, with $613M and $727M expended on the West Coast Demerara (WCD) highway and urban and miscellaneous roads, respectively, while works on the upgrading of the EBD came to an end.
Regarding the East Bank-East Coast Road Linkage, the report highlighted that an Indian company is being considered to provide project management consulting services. Additionally, the proposal for funding the rehabilitation of the Soesdyke-Linden Highway was submitted to the World Bank for consideration.
Some $37.2B was budgeted to support the continuous improvement to public infrastructure in the 2017 budget. Of that amount, $4B was expended on roads and $242M on bridges at the half year.