By Elvin Carl Croker
AS construction on a spanking new Sheriff Street-Mandela Avenue road works speedily takes shape, motorists and pedestrians are asked to exercise caution in areas that are under construction.

The Public Infrastructure Ministry in a recent advisory, called on the public to observe all traffic, safety signs and flaggers when traversing sections under construction and to observe the 20km/h speed limit in the construction zones.
Construction works currently ongoing on Sheriff Street include backfilling of drains on the eastern side from the Rupert Craig Highway to David Street and some Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) works.

The ministry also announced that drainage works from John Smith to Fourth Streets on the eastern side and from Second Street to Durey Lane on the western side, continues.
However, from Mandela Avenue, drainage works behind the Botanical Gardens at the Arapaima culvert have entered its second phase of construction with works on the eastern side.

Manager (ag) at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, spearheading the project, Mark Greene, informed this publication that while there will be some disruptions, the ministry will make every effort to reduce the inconvenience.

“We want to urge the road users to exercise care, consideration and caution along the roadway, especially in the areas of construction stated in the public notice published some time ago. The public are to look out for the flaggers and obey their instructions at all times,” the project manager said.

He said while the contractor has experienced difficulties in executing the works in a timely manner, the works are approximately 12 per cent complete and is expected to be completed in March of next year.

ACTIVITIES
The ministry advised that some of the upcoming activities to the construction involve further works at the Cummings Canal on Sheriff Street. These, the ministry says, will include the relocation of GWI pipes, patching of Dennis Street and Durey Lane between Middleton Street and Stone Avenue, construction of a detour at Cummings Canal and the stage reconstruction of the bridge at Cummings Canal.

These works are to begin within the next two weeks from 07:00 hrs to 17:00 hrs.
Additionally, the construction of another Mandela Avenue culvert, located at Homestretch and Mandela Avenues is scheduled to commence within two weeks from 07:00 hrs to 17:00 hrs, daily. The activities include construction of a detour and the staged construction of the culvert.

The Ministry of Public Infrastructure goals and intended outcomes in executing the roadway upgrade are to improve road safety, better organise the flow of traffic and simplify traffic movements,  enhance the arterial function of the road while maintaining its commercial /industrial make-up, provide adequate drainage for the road corridor and interdependent communities, and extend the design life of the pavement and all roadway structures to a minimum of 20 years from the expected end of construction.

SCOPE
The Sheriff to Mandela road corridor scope of works includes pavement rehabilitation, road safety engineering, traffic and drainage improvement works, construction of bridges, culverts and a pedestrian overhead walkway.

This stretch of road will see the construction of a two-lane roadway with a concrete median portioning the two lanes along Sheriff Street with sidewalks, cycle lanes and parking, while Mandela Avenue will involve expansion of the roadway from a two-lane to a four-lane with a central concrete median, with shared use paths (combined sidewalk and cycle lane).
A roundabout will be constructed at the junction of Sheriff Street and David Street / Railway Embankment Road.

The project which was awarded to Sinohydro Corporation Limited (China) for the sum of G$6.47B (US$31.03M) in December 2017, was made possible through a loan the Government of Guyana received from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the rehabilitation of its transport infrastructure

The Sheriff Street to Mandela Avenue Roadway Expansion Project loan LO 2741/BL- GY: Road Network Upgrade & Expansion Program forms Component 2 (C2) of the reformulated loan programme.

Component One is a housing sector development project to be undertaken by the Ministry of Communities.

The Sheriff Street – Mandela Avenue roadway was constructed in the 1970s by the Ministry of Works, Hydraulics and Supply, now known as the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.