THE Ministry of Housing and Water, on Friday, posted an artist’s impression of the new roundabout that will connect the West Coast Demerara Highway to the new Schoonord to Crane highway.

To ease traffic congestion along the West Bank and West Coast of Demerara and with the speed of development in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), President Ali, in 2022, acknowledged the necessity of a new four-lane highway.

Owing to the rapid pace of development, this highway will precede the planned construction of a four-lane highway from Schoonord to Parika on the East Bank of Essequibo (EBE).
This potential road link, President Ali said, will open thousands of acres of land for housing, massive agriculture and agro-related projects, and tourism and other related activities.
The construction of this particular road, however, is merely a component of a broader plan to modernise the country’s infrastructure and create myriad alternative and more convenient linkages.

At the centre of those plans is the intended construction of a new ‘fly-over’ Demerara Harbour Bridge, which will stretch from Nandy Park on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) to La Grange, WBD.

The new four-lane, high-span bridge, once completed, will replace the existing structure which was built in 1976, over four decades ago.

Additionally, since taking office, the government has been working to develop infrastructure throughout the country. In 2022, the $2.6 billion Mandela to Eccles highway was opened.
The road project was conceptualised by President Ali, while he was the Housing and Water Minister in 2013. The highway now reduces traffic congestion significantly along the East Bank corridor, as well as improves accessibility for future residential, commercial, and industrial developments.

Moreover, a US$106.4 million contract was signed in June 2022, for the construction of the first phase of the East Coast Demerara (ECD) to EBD road linkage project.

At the signing ceremony which was held at the intersection of the Rupert Craig Highway and Ogle Road on the ECD, it was announced that an India-based construction company, Ashoka Buildcon Limited, would take on the project which is expected to be carried out over 24 months.

The first phase of the road is expected to be a four-lane highway that stretches some 7.8 kilometers, with which each lane will be 3.6 meters wide, and include a median, sidewalks, and several structures along the way.

Further, last year, the Ministry of Public Works had expended some $543.6 million to build several roads in some communities along the ECD corridor.