COMMUTERS utilising the overpass located at the busy Peter’s Hall intersection, in the vicinity of the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB), on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD), can now choose to either walk or use the elevators.

The facility, one installed at each end of the walkway, was commissioned by Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson and Minister within the MoPI, Jaipaul Sharma, during a simple commissioning ceremony on Friday.

Similar pedestrian overpasses at Houston, Eccles, Providence and Diamond have also been outfitted with elevators and while pedestrians use the walkway, the elevators have not yet been put into use.

Commuters can enter either of the facility on the east or west for a ride up, which will then allow them to walk the gangway to reach the other end or down to be taken to the lower level that leads to the highway.

Each elevator can carry a weight load of 400 kilograms and a maximum of five persons. The lifts, are available for use by the public from 06:00 hours to 14:00 hours and from 14:00 hours to 22:00 hours daily, and will be manned by an operator at each end, who will work on a shift system basis. In case of a power failure, there is a stand-by generator that will automatically switch over. Additionally, the operator at each side is outfitted with a radio set, to summon help in case of an emergency.

A precautionary recorded announcement `Door Closing, Floor One’ is heard as the door of each elevator closes and the lift is about to ascend or descend. Likewise, `Door Opening’ is heard when it stops.

Those tasked to undertake the job as operators are Christopher Tsoi, 22; Cassandra Texeira, 28; Lisa Bobb, 27; Rajesh Singh 27, and Tishan Dodson, 27, all of whom are elated at being the first such employees to begin serving the public.

Singh, a former employee of Wales Estates and an auto electrician with certification from the GuySuCo Training Centre, Port Mourant, Corentyne, said he was excited to be part of the development to modern times. He noted that some of the persons he encountered since the facility began working, expressed fear of being stuck in the elevator if there is a power failure of falling through the floor.

Tsoi expressed his joy at being able to deal with people of different ethnicities and ages, as he persuades them to use the facility, while Dodson said it is a privilege for him to help the elderly pedestrians.

The elevators would be a great convenience to everyone, particularly the elderly and persons with disabilities, who previously had found great difficulty in climbing up the lengthy stairways and were forced to risk their lives crossing the busy four-lane thoroughfare. So too would people with young children in tow, pedestrians with heavy loads, and school children.

When the Guyana Chronicle visited the Peter’s Hall location around 15:00 hours on Friday, it was obvious that persons were still unaware that the elevators were functional, but the lift operators on either side took great pride in welcoming and encouraging persons to utilise the lifts. Some persons though, refused apparently out of fear of the unknown.

Nevertheless, the excitement and relief was evident on the faces of those utlising the lifts. Siblings Brian and Nicola Armstrong of Grove, EBD, who had minutes ago exited the lift on the western side and walked the gangway seemed unaware that the one on the eastern end was also operating and were about the walk down the stairway on the eastern side, when they were invited by the operator to ride the elevator instead. Excited too, were a family, but not a little girl, who tugged at a woman’s hand screaming “No, mammy nah go in there”, while holding on for dear life on her mother’s hand.

Marlon Williams, 40, who vends fruits in the vicinity of the overpass, said he is overjoyed that the elevator is now in operation. “I am particularly happy for the big people, some of them because they used to struggle to climb the stairs, they had no choice than to risk their lives to cross the roadway, which at times can be risky.”

He expressed his disappointment in not having a video grab on his phone of a dog that had climbed the stairs and walked across the gangway and down the stairs on the other side, while there are some people who are still critical of the facility.

The pedestrian overpass projects are part of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure’s continued efforts to improve road safety countrywide, as in addition to being safe, they are well-lit and a convenient facility for pedestrians, to cross the busy four-lane EBD Public Road and thereby reduce accidents.

The elevators were manufactured by Cibes Lift Group AB, of Gävle Sweden, and supplied by the Caribbean, RBP Lifts Limited in Trinidad, the authorised distributors who also installed them with RM Engineering monitoring the process.

The overhead walkways at Providence and Diamond were reportedly built by S. Jagmohan Hardware Supplies, while the construction of the overpasses at Houston, Peter’s Hall and Eccles were constructed by B & J Civil Works.