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Record-breaking 252,000 crossed Harbour Bridge in Dec.
Vehicles crossing the Demerara Harbour Bridge hit a record-breaking high in December, officials say.
General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation, Rawlston Adams, reported that the corporation saw an increase in traffic during December, with 252,500 vehicles transiting the structure during the month.
At a daily average of 8,145, this reflects an increase of 23,226 vehicles compared to November, 2011. Minister of Transport Robeson Benn confirmed that number of vehicles has broken records crossing the bridge.
A record breaking 252,500 vehicles crossed the Demerara Harbour Bridge in December, government officials say.
The highest volume of traffic was recorded on December 24, which registered a total number of 9,540 vehicles and the lowest volume was recorded on Friday, December 2, which registered 6,370 vehicles, Adams told the Minister on Wednesday during a monthly management meeting.
Vehicles sales have been soaring in recent months with over 700 cars alone sold in December, the Guyana Revenue Authority has been reporting.
On an average, GRA is now writing up over 1,200 registrations monthly, inclusive of cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles.
The ‘PP’ series was introduced late November with several hundreds already in the system.
Maintenance costs of the 30-plus-year-old Demerara Harbour Bridge have been high in recent years with overheads far outstripping revenues, forcing government to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into critical works including the replacement of pontoons and deck plates.
With the harbour bridge serving a critical link to Region Three (West Demerara) and Region Two (Essequibo Coast), government has also been looking for an alternative to the ancient structure.
Traffic at peak times in the morning and afternoon had forced management of the bridge to introduce measures to limit movements to one-way at specific times.
Several new housing schemes on the West Demerara area have also contributed to the increase traffic.
Meanwhile, a government statement said that during the management meeting at Benn’s Kingston office, there was an interaction with engineers in charge of various aspects of the ministry’s work and the Minister was updated on their progress.
Chief Roads Engineer, Leon Goring, reported that work is moving apace on the Hinterland Roads Project, while preparatory work on the East Coast four-lane road has commenced.
“We are developing the reserve in such a manner that the concrete drains will be constructed on both sides of the public road…the contractor is currently sand-filling between the inside edge of the concrete drain and the roadway,” Goring said.
Meanwhile, the contractor for the East Bank four-lane expansion from Providence to Diamond is currently stockpiling materials and conducting a survey after which physical works will commence.
Chief Sea and River Defence Officer, Geoffrey Vaughn, reported that work continued to be executed at varying locations countrywide, during December, which saw the completion of a number of projects on its record.
“Contractors worked assiduously to complete a total of 30,816 metres both natural and manmade sea defence structures,” Vaughn said.
General Manager, Transport and Harbour Department, Marclene Merchant, reported that the department’s programme to replace to Makouria class vessels is progressing smoothly.
“The arrival of the two new roll-on-/roll-off ferry vessels was a significant accomplishment to further this programme…when the vessels become operational, it will see a number of goods, services and commuters being shuttled along the Parika-Supenaam route,” Merchant said.
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