Lee Sing sees new traffic plan beyond three months

The three-month pilot traffic plan for Woodbrook and St James will likely continue beyond the allotted three months, once the kinks are ironed out of the system, Port-of-Spain Mayor Louis Lee Sing said yesterday. Major changes include converting Woodbrook’s two main arteries into one-way streets—Ariapita Avenue will now be one-way eastbound, while Tragarete Road will become one-way westbound.

In St James, major changes include converting the Western Main Road into a westbound street. Changes to the traffic flow have also been made to numerous streets in Woodbrook and St James. Flyers and maps have been published in the daily newspapers to acquaint the public with the changes that are geared to ease perennial traffic congestion in that part of the city.

“I don’t think there will be traffic jams tomorrow. I tried checking the routes in St James on Saturday and people are all fired up about it  and looking forward. That was music to my ears. They say it’s long overdue,” said Lee Sing. “I’m optimistic this will work out well and we won’t have to revert to anything or how it was before Monday. I expect as it goes along we’ll iron out the kinks as we encounter them and  develop the plan and this will remain beyond the three-month trial period,” he said.

Lee Sing said the pilot routes are how the traffic should have been flowing all along.“When people get familiar with it, they’ll begin to understand what short cuts to take and in due course, you’ll see how  everything works out very well.” Lee Sing said the issue had been the subject of over 30 highly-publicised public consultations.

This included taxi drivers who he hoped would set their routes in accordance with the new traffic plans. The mayor said he was asking people to exercise caution and adhere to the plan to ensure a smooth and incident-free traffic flow starting today.

NEW TRAFFIC PLAN

WOODBROOK
Ariapita Avenue—eastbound
Tragarete Road—westbound
Colville Street—northbound
Damian Street—southbound
French Street—southbound
Baden-Powell Street—eastbound
Hunter Street—eastbound
Brabant Street—westbound
 

Northbound
De Verteuil Street
Cornelio Street
Phillip Street
Kavanagh Street
Fitt Street north of Baden-Powell Street

Southbound
Murray Street
Fitt Street south of Baden-Powell Street
Petra Street south of Warren Street
Pole-Carew Street
Havelock Street
 

ST JAMES
Western Main Road—one-way west
Church Street—one-way east
Quamina Street—one-way west
Romeo Street—one-way north
Hyderabad Street—one-way east
Nizam Street: between Panka /
Hyderabad Streets—one-way north
Mathura Street—one-way south
Bay Road—one-way south
Broad Street—one-way south
Weekes Street—one-way south