THE commencement of work on the UG road leading into Sophia is a ‘Top Priority for 2020.’ This was the statement made by Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson. He stated that there were restorative works done on the roads sometime in 2018 and explained that vehicular traffic, especially large, heavy-duty trucks caused the slippages that played a part in bringing the road to its current state, which he explained is still in a somewhat useable state.

Minister Patterson who was speaking at a press briefing at his office on January 8, 2019, stated that the road had been on the agenda to be redone since 2018, but explained that due to several surrounding circumstances those works were put on hold until such a time that would be appropriate.

“The works to be completed on the UG road are a priority; one of the main challenges we had to consider was GWI doing some extensive work in the area, they are currently completing some pipe work you could probably still see them laying it down now, so there is no use of us revetting that road and GWI still would have to disrupt that to do their work; so we decided against commencing the project there and we looked at Middleton Street which faces the same issue” Minister Patterson stated.

Additionally, he stated that both sides of the road would have to be done simultaneously and this had posed a slight challenge for the ministry in terms of allocation of funds to get that completed, since the need to have the works completed came post-oil.

Minister Patterson stated that for completion of the road, the plan that has been drawn up is going to implement the use of a concrete drainage system instead of the natural drain. This move, he explained, is pivotal to stopping the slippage that results in the roads being badly damaged. He however explained that it has been noted through extensive research that implementation of the concrete drainage system would not create a problem in the flow of the water.

“As you know, there was a Dutch team from Delft University and they did a drainage mapping of the entire Georgetown; with that mapping they calculated drainage and water flows and those things like that, so all we have to do is ensure that whatever we put back is the required volume, so that’s done already; the works will not affect drainage at all, it would probably improve drainage. When it’s completed it will be easier to maintain the drainage systems,” Patterson stated.