There are three secrets about traffic and highways that the Government refuse to tell.
First: officials refuse to acknowledge that the proposed Debe to Mon Desir Highway, when traffic and economic data is considered on an islandwide basis, ought not to be on any list of priorities.
Which are the peak-hour traffic hotspots on the island? Traffic leading from Chaguanas into Port-of-Spain. Traffic leading, especially backed up at traffic lights, from Arima to Port-of-Spain, at the Orange Grove, Paget, UWI, Curepe and Valsayn traffic lights, and leading from there all the way into the city. Traffic leading into the city from the northwest peninsula, Carenage, Diego Martin, Maraval. And traffic leading into the city of San Fernando, from the main link from the southwest peninsula, Otaheite, Mosquito Creek, Dumfries, all the way to Cipero. These are the significant areas of significant traffic distress. Back and forth, morning and evening.
Traffic distress in these areas, if not treated in the short term, will lead to horrendous social, economic, financial and ecological chaos on the island. It is one of the best well-kept visible secrets that the authorities will not acknowledge, much less treat with; and the general population approve by refusing to revolt against it, sitting in their cars like so many sheep in their mile-long pens.
Think of the millions of hours of labour lost per month. Think of the distress to family life, the severely reduced time spent with children. Think about the millions of litres of gas consumed; the psychological distress; wear and tear on vehicles, the astronomical volumes of carbon produced; the shorter life-span on the vehicle, leading to a greater strain on global energy resources–more plastics, aluminium, iron ore, synthetic rubber. Above all, it strains the health of the commuter. How many times have you seen back-seat passengers snoozing, sleeping, tired? Additionally, competition between public transit and private carriage puts a strain on the efficiency of the public system and the treasury. And strain on the individual vehicle purchaser, weakening her mortgage contract. And more cars mean more rush, more anxiety, more rage, less safety.
Time for train transit
The second secret is that traffic distress can be solved. There is no use saying that traffic is progress, or development, or first world, or all countries have traffic. A train transit needs to be added to the bus, maxi-taxi and private car transits. Not a high-speed train, but one which is efficient, unhurried and safe. Less speed, more progress. We need to cut the pace, stay on the planet, not fly off it. We have the space both north to south, using, in the main, former Caroni Lands, from the Eastern Main Road to Rio Claro, Barrackpore; and from west to east, imperfectly parallel and south of the Eastern Main Road. We have not made ample use of the water around our shores, or our skills at ship-building, to expand our water transit system.
Nor have we focussed on building an e-transit system. The idea is to develop a national digital system, with universal local access, to shorten the time we spend on our undeveloped transit systems. Incrementally, do more school, work, banking, business, liming, mall-shopping, even cinema, from home. This is the ideal; but we must start now.
Treasury under attack
The third secret is that the treasury is under attack, in the name of progress and development. Debe to Mon Desir would cost, with its five interchanges, its nine bridges, its flyovers and ramps, its culverts, its destruction of 300 homes and multi-dollar businesses, and compensation and relocation deals, between four and five billion dollars. The truth is that our treasury money and bond monies should be used to target the area of traffic distress on the island, to develop the modern transit infrastructure referred to above. The truth is that treasury money is being proposed for Debe to Mon Desir, where there is no traffic; and to choke and rob the wealth of a sub-region of the southwest peninsula.
From Debe to Mon Desir there is no traffic on the elegant system of roads there. The traffic is from Point Fortin to San Fernando. A highway is being constructed there. There is traffic in the towns, Siparia, Penal, Debe, along the Siparia-Erin Main Road. No highway will solve that. The solution for town traffic–as in Sangre Grande, Arima, Tunapuna, St Augustine, Curepe, San Juan, Port-of-Spain, Maraval, Diego Martin, Carenage, Chaguanas, Couva, Marabella, San Fernando–is the connector road, the one-way traffic, the car-park, the mass-transit parking facility, the traffic wardens, the town planner, the repair of roads and enhancement of pedestrian transit systems.
Wayne Kublalsingh
via e-mail