Heavy-duty vehicles are not permitted to use the new Eccles-to-Diamond interlink road and those who attempt to bypass this rule will face severe consequences.
This was announced today by President Dr Irfaan Ali during the official commissioning ceremony of the new roadway, which will eventually link Diamond to Mandela Avenue under a whopping $16B investment initiative.
“This road is designed for a specific category of vehicles…the big trucks, you will see barriers and if you think it is your responsibility to take down the barriers because you want to break the law, there will be consequences and you will face the consequences,” President Ali said.
He noted too that the road will be equipped with modern security/safety features to deter speeding and other traffic violations. The President explained that the Guyana Government in conjunction with the Police Force designed a “safe road usage plan” for this new road.
In the plan, it is envisioned that there will be three police outposts along the road.
“Two of those outposts are already in place. The next phase is to connect cameras to those outposts…I’m very happy to inform you that the cameras can even pick up if you have your seatbelts on,” the Head of State explained.
“So, there are some amendments which will be made to the law to allow for electronic ticketing…this road is not intended to be a racetrack, those of you who want to do racing, do so safely by signing up with the Guyana Motor Racing Association and go have fun on the circuit,” President Ali posited.
The new road will serve as an auxiliary route for commuters and as a transit point for scores of workers, bringing much-needed relief to the already heavily congested East Bank Demerara corridor – where persons often spend hours of productive time sitting in traffic.
In addition to this relief, President Ali said the new road will create thousands of opportunities for Guyanese in areas of jobs, housing, and commercial investments.
The total investment made into this new road is pegged at $5B. However, the construction of a major highway from Mandela Avenue to Eccles will round off the total investment on the East Bank corridor to $16B.
The President said that these projects are being done in anticipation of the imminent growth in traffic and to significantly ease congestion with good infrastructure and urban planning.
