–President Ali says after engaging contractors; highlights efforts underway to ensure efficient traffic management

PRESIDENT Dr. Irfaan Ali on Friday inspected the final phases of work on the approach road and roundabout linking the Heroes Highway to the new Demerara River bridge, where he confirmed that the facility is expected to be opened to traffic before the end of September.
“I am being told that we are looking for opening before the end of this month (September)… opening fully for traffic,” the President said during his visit.
The Head of State said testing and final checks are currently ongoing, noting: “So, the final phase of testing in relation to the roads and the load-testing on the bridge are ongoing. The full load-testing will be completed, ensuring the project is ready for use long before the end of this month.”

Dr. Ali expressed satisfaction with the pace of works on the approach road and roundabout.
“I am pleased to see the final phase of the approach road work and the roundabout. From what I have seen, that will be completed in the course of three days, maximum,” he stated.
The President further pointed to ongoing plans to expand the Heroes Highway in order to improve connectivity and ease congestion.
He said: “What we are also looking at is the expansion of the Heroes Highway, adding two collector lanes to take the traffic that goes directly onto the Haags Bosch interconnection, going all the way back to Ogle. So, the engineers are looking at that, so that you can have greater efficiency in terms of traffic flow.”
On the western end of the bridge, he said, additional measures are also being put in place to better manage traffic.
“On the west side of the bridge, there is a collector lane that has been added to take the traffic from the West Bank directly off the bridge and put it back onto the West Bank carriageway, instead of going around the roundabout on the west side of the bridge. These additional works are being completed, so that we can have a beautiful bridge, but also good traffic management,” President Ali said.
Looking ahead, Dr. Ali highlighted that more ambitious infrastructure upgrades are being contemplated.
“The greatest efficiency is to have two flyovers; one on the Heroes Highway and one on the West Bank. But those are projects we are looking at down in the future and not immediately. We will see how this design works…,” he said.

With the bridge now entering its final stages of preparation, the President reiterated confidence that the long-awaited structure will be opened to the public well before September ends.
The US$260 million bridge, being constructed by China Railway Construction Corporation Limited, will have a lifespan of 100 years, and offer toll-free access.
It will operate around-the-clock, and accommodate vehicles of all sizes and weights, with a maximum speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour.
The new bridge features four lanes, and stretches 2.6 kilometres, linking Nandy Park on the East Bank Demerara to La Grange on the West Bank Demerara.
More than 50,000 daily commuters are expected to benefit from the new toll-free bridge, resulting in an estimated $3.5 billion in annual savings.