Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, during a tour of the Sheriff Street-Mandela Avenue Road Expansion Project today, indicated that the markings and signages on the road are not complete and instances where errors have been made will be corrected before the official opening pegged for February 14, 2022.
There has been public outcry over the markings on the road, with many users contending that it is confusing.
However, Minister Edghill assured that an educational campaign will be launched to inform the public how to navigate on the new road.
“We should have mounted a public education campaign and I take full responsibility for not doing that,” he admitted.
“But a part from the road markings accompanying the entire roadway, there will be vertical signs which will be steel poles that will be mounted in the corner of the road and then they’ll have the signs telling the turns, stoppages, pedestrian crossing, no noise zones and all the rest of it will be there,” the Public Works Minister explained.
He further reasoned that the subcontractor handling the road markings is following an approved design and that the measurements must be in accordance with the official specifications. These, the Minister said, will be inspected and approved before the official opening.
“Now, like any project, there are teething problems and we must admit that we have discovered a few teething problems where the markings were concerned,” Edghill contended, noting that when a review is done, the necessary errors will be corrected.
“Wherever we see the need for changes, those will be made,” he expressed.
INews understands that the complete road markings and signage are expected to be completed over the course of the next week.
Meanwhile, Minister Edghill noted that the project is mostly completed. Only some 600 meters of the road is left to be paved
Additionally, streetlights are currently being installed along the 7 kilometers roadway; some 200 are expected to be erected. Guard rails also have to be installed.
The contract sum for the project was US$31 million but due to a number of factors, the government will end up paying more. However, the Public Works Minister could not definitively say what the additional cost would be. He, nevertheless, assured that the country and its people will get their money’s worth.
“We will need some extra money…that is a conversation that is being undertaken…at the highest level…” he said.
The road upgrade project is being funded through a US$66 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Work on the Sheriff Street-Mandela Avenue project began in August 2018 by Chinese company Sinohydro Corporation Limited.
However, there was a period in 2019 when the IDB had halted funding for the project owing to health and safety violations by the contractor. The matter was further compounded by the 2020 election impasse, but following the return to office of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, the IDB was re-engaged.
The Sheriff Street-Mandela Avenue roadway is considered the only direct link between the heavily populated East Coast Demerara and East Bank Demerara.
