President Dr Irfaan Ali announced Thursday that the construction of the new $11.8 billion Schoonord to Crane four-lane highway is set to be completed by June 2024.
The new highway, which will feature an emergency lane, medians, two roundabouts, 11 reinforced concrete culverts, and 36 pre-stressed bridges, is expected to alleviate traffic congestion on the West Bank and West Coast of Demerara.
President Ali and a team of ministers and technical officers inspected the ongoing works at Crane.
The Head of State described the new highway as ‘urgently required for commuters’ and noted that contractors are working tirelessly to complete the project within the stipulated period.
“The first phase was to get to this area. Why? Because from Crane to the Harbour Bridge is where the bulk of the traffic backs up in the morning, taking some persons three to three and a half hours to get to work in Georgetown.
“So, this will bring tremendous ease. We are hoping by June next year that this new four-lane highway will be completed connecting Crane to Schoonord,” he explained.
Preliminary works including land clearing, and sand filling, are currently ongoing and are expected to be completed by December.
“A few months ago, this was all rice field and today you can see the transformation that is taking place,” the president highlighted.
The construction of the Schoonord to Crane four-lane highway is a significant part of the ongoing nationwide infrastructure modernisation. It is expected to be completed ahead of the new Demerara River Bridge.
Region Three is one of the areas where not only we are having a great population push because of the housing development, but the type of industrial development and development connected to the oil and gas sector in this region.
“So, this corridor will very be very important,” the president said.
He also expressed gratitude to all those persons who owned lands within the road’s alignment, for working with the government to ensure the smooth transition of the project.
The project is divided into eight lots and is being executed by VR Construction Inc, Avinash Contracting & Scrap Metal Inc, L-Heureuse Construction and Services Inc, Guyamerica Construction Inc, AJM Enterprise, Vals Construction, Puran Bros Disposal Inc, and JS Guyana Inc. [DPI]
