The new experimental traffic plan to be launched in St James on Monday is a demonstration of people power, says Works and Infrastructure Minister Emmanuel George. He made the comment during its launch yesterday at the amphitheatre, St James. He said the plan, which benefited from heavy consultation with residents, must be a lesson for the rest of the country.
"We have to stop this backward behaviour of burning tyres and blocking roads to communicate. Burning tyres and blocking roads is a sign of weakness," he said. George, who admitted he had little involvement in the planning process of the scheme, said it was mostly the work of the St James community, led by president of the Community Improvement Committee Earl Crosby, with technical input from Ministry of Works officials.
Crosby, who presented a map of the traffic plan, said the major changes took place on the back streets in the area. The Western Main Road remains the same except for parking restrictions between 3 am and 6 am and 3 pm and 6 pm on weekdays.
Traffic plan to launch on Monday
Streets such as Salazar, Romeo, Mooniram, Calcutta, Madras and Bengal will all be one-way heading north from Monday. Mathura, Jerry, Bombay and Agra Streets ,along with Bay and Brunton Roads, will become one-way south-bound streets. The ministry will monitor the plan over the next 90 days.
Ministry officials said all necessary road signs would be complete by Monday as 95 per cent already were completed. To further facilitate the transition to the new traffic rules, traffic wardens will be posted in St James from Monday. Traffic warden supervisor for PoS, Joseph Fereira said wardens would be moved from inside the city to help. "We are short on manpower, but from 6 am to 6pm we will have wardens in St James," Fereira said.