President Irfaan Ali yesterday unveiled plans for an expanded interconnecting road transport system in Region Three , designed to tackle mounting traffic congestion caused by the rapid housing development of a number of new opened areas and in preparation for the 20,000 lots to be distributed by 2030.
The project which includes alignments of new roads, upgraded bridges, and a macro connectivity plan linking current and future housing communities, industry, and national infrastructure, will be soon detailed but is expected to take around six to eight months, the President said underscoring relief for current commuters.
Pointing to the daily bottleneck of traffic between La Jalousie and Tuschen, Ali explained that the plans are will tackle the existing problem while alleviating its reoccurrence when other developments are opened. And development expanded.
“Heavy traffic that is causing two to three hours of delay every single day. So, we are now going into the existing housing schemes. If you look at this map here, you will see…,” he said pointing to proposed areas of works.
A resident of Region 3 himself, Ali acknowledged the frustration of commuters, and assured that government understands and it is why the initiative was taken to integrate existing housing schemes roads into a new alignment, crossing canals and upgrading bridges to create a parallel artery for light traffic such as cars, vans and SUVs.
The scale of works will see some 36 bridges being built or upgraded along the route and Ali projected that within six to eight months, commuters could begin to see relief. “Some of it is already there. So we are hoping that in six to eight months, we can bring relief for the traffic coming from La Jalousie all the way to Tuschen,” he said.
Alongside him were Ministers of Housing Colin Croal and Vanessa Benn and they promise of relief, who echoed the President’s position of yesterday’s activity being more than a technical plan but a commitment to providing persons with connectivity, and a vision of urban transformation.
Croal highlighted that in Region 3 alone, over 11,000 new house lots have been allocated in the past four years, with 90 percent already occupied and plans are on stream to add 20,,000 more“ “The last four years at least here in Region 3, from Wales all the way here to West Coast. ) We have over 11,000 new allocations that were done, and about 90 percent of those persons are now seeing their house lots. And so, this is where, too, the necessity for other access roads and highways are pretty important,” the Housing Minister said.
He later told this newspaper, “What we have is a problem is traffic now itself. What we are doing is, interconnecting road utilizing some access points to connect the villages to ease that [burden].”
For Benn’s part, she stressed the social dimension: “It’s really great that we have this discussion and giving the public a chance to see what is being done with regard to improving the road networks.
“You know, as Minister Croal spoke about the housing development, connected with that is the importance of people being able to access the hospitals and other facilities in a more prompt and efficient manner, getting their children to school, etcetera,” she said.
She also announced plans for truck parking lots to protect road integrity and commuter safety. “In concert with the development of the housing will also be the (11:04) development of truck parking lots, so that persons who are involved in developmental activity and (11:08) all of these big heavy trucks will be able to park them in areas that are off the road, (11:14) so that the integrity of the road and the shoulders are maintained, and so that this (11:18) also takes into consideration the safety of the commuters along the way,” she said. .
Maps displayed and referenced during the visit showed the existing West Demerara Public Road that is being expanded and the proposed alignment. The President explained that the route was chosen to cut through the center of villages, intersecting new housing schemes and connecting to the old railway embankment, now repurposed for modern transport. By following the old railway embankment, said that the government intends to minimize disruption while maximizing efficiency.
The alignments are divided into sections with Section A being from Tuschen to Met-en-Meerzorg Section B is Met-en-Meerzorg to Stewartville; Section C is Stewartville Cornelia Ida and Section D: Cornelia Ida to Ruimzeight.
The president revealed that the design for each phase had been completed. “From last October to now, we have had a team completing the design, the route alignment. They have completed the design now, and we are now moving towards having the entire area assessed for implementation,” he said. The scope includes detailed bridge upgrades and widening, with works soon entering the public procurement phase.
The project also integrates utilities. “This alignment will help GPL, GWI, and telecoms companies expand their distribution networks,” Ali said, underscoring the multi‑sectoral benefits of road expansion.
But beyond Roads, the President said the initiative takes plans for conservation into effect as the Boeraserie Conservancy (the East and West Demerara Water Conservancies) remains untouched and there are ecotourism spin-offs. He pointed to the conservancies, emphasizing environmental buffers.
Wetlands, he said, are not only protected zones but also ecotourism opportunities. “It’s not only about protection. It’s about the ecotourism potential that can be developed with the infrastructure that we are also building in,” he explained.
Ali was quick to note that the holistic transformative infrastructural push by his government is part of a vision beyond West Demerara, as described how the new road would connect to Wales, and main arteries leading to the Chedd Jagan International Airport Silica City, and Bartica. “The macro plan is the whole infrastructure being built out and the interconnection between the transport infrastructure,” Ali said. This integrated approach, he reasoned, is the essence of modern urban planning.
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