WITH work on a section of Hunter Street, which stretches from Front Road, West Ruimveldt to Mandela Avenue, coming to an end, the Ministry of Public Works is exploring the possibility of adding a third lane to the thoroughfare. Public Works Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill, on Tuesday, while inspecting the ongoing works at Hunter Street, announced that engineers are contemplating the possibility of an additional lane for the street, as it would appear as though the width of the passage permits same. Hunter Street is one of the main arteries which connects the heart of Georgetown to the East Bank of Demerara Highway. So, by adding a third lane, the usual traffic congestion would be alleviated. “This morning [Tuesday] we were able to look at something that I am happy about; having done the road and because of the width that exist, we are looking at the possibility of putting in a third lane.
“So, Hunter Street could possibly, possibly, not conclusively, we’re looking at it… Hunter Street should possibly move from being a two-lane road into being a three-lane road,” Minister Edghill said.

The Public Works Minister explained that the additional lane would enable two lanes of traffic from the East Bank of Demerara corridor into Georgetown and one lane going out during the morning rush hours, and vice-versa during the afternoon peak hours of traffic flow.
Works on the street are currently being carried out by contractor, Vieira 66 Logistics, which was awarded a contract to complete the street after the original contractor, Surrey Paving and Ideal Engineering, had abandoned works on the roadway and left it in a deplorable state.
The contract for Vieira 66 Logistics is approximately $100 million, while, according to the Auditor General’s 2019 report, Surrey Paving was paid approximately $35.041 million from the $86.685 million contract that the company was awarded in May 2019.
Based on the original contract, work was expected to begin on June 10, 2019, and be completed by December, 2019.
Edghill noted, however, that the government will get more than it bargained for with contractor Vieira 66 Logistics, as the contractor will also be going an extra step to connect Hunter Street to the four-lane, Sheriff-Mandela Highway.

The minister related: “Reducing travel time is a big priority, people must get to work and get home from work relaxed, not spending hours in traffic.”
The government, he said, is putting several systems in place to address the heavy build-up of traffic on the East Bank of Demerara corridor.
One such measure is the adjustment of the opening and closing hours of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, which is one of the key contributors to daily traffic congestion. The government is also exploring connecting the four-lane road from Diamond to the Sheriff- Mandela road in the vicinity of the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School.
“People might say why we didn’t think about that before, and it’s a good question, but engineering and designing when you actually get on the ground and things are happening, you see where you can make the improvement,” Edghill reasoned.
Further, he said: “That’s what engineers do, try to accommodate improvement and not just merely sticking to what the original design is, so here at Hunter Street we’re getting more than we anticipated that we would do.”