Commuters are utilizing the Good Hope bridge, on the East Coast of Demerara which was re-opened officially on Saturday afternoon, despite not being fully completed.
The Public Infrastructure Ministry had said that the Bridge was “95 per cent completed with a few minor works to be done”.
The Bridge which was under construction for almost three weeks is expected to reduce traffic congestion on the East Coast Highway.
Commuters were peeved that the Infrastructure Ministry undertook several road projects on the East Coast of Demerara at once, thereby impeding the flow of traffic during the peak hours of travel.
The rehabilitation of the Bridge began earlier this month. The contract was awarded to BK International and saw some $23.5 million being expended to cover the total costs.
The project saw the demolition of the old Acrow Panel structure and construction of a concrete one.
Coordinator of Works, Geoffrey Vaughn noted, “When we change from the Acrow Panel bridges to the free stress concrete bridges, there is no disruption to traffic, no maintenance issues, and everything flows smoothly. We don’t expect to have any problems with the Bridge in the near future.”
It was also explained that the Good Hope Bridge, along with the Annandale and Lusignan Bridges, should have been rehabilitated since last year, but there were challenges with regard to the traffic.
“We thought it best not to run all three bridges at the same time, because of traffic issues with the construction of the other two; but because they were in an area where there were more access points to leave and enter the railway embankment [road], the traffic burden wasn’t felt much by the driving public. But because of the location of this bridge, there seems to be a greater impact on traffic,” Vaughn added.
