Road traffic officials hope the results of a congestion study being conducted by a Spanish consultant group will be in by September, and that implementing the recommendations of the study will bring tremendous relief to road users in New Providence.
Transport Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin disclosed that another traffic congestion study is underway, this time funded by the Inter-American Development Bank [IDB].
Road Traffic Controller Jack Thompson identified the firm conducting the study as the Advanced Logistics Group out of Spain.
In the wake of three accidents involving large trailer-bed trucks on the streets of New Providence, Mrs. Hanna-Martin said she expected the results of the study to alleviate the problems caused by these large vehicles sharing the streets with regular traffic.
Minister Hanna-Martin said she wants police to be tougher on ensuring compliance with those regulations, and she called for “swift, quick and very firm” penalties for breaching them. The government is also getting involved from a legislative standpoint, it seems.
“The Road Traffic Act is being reviewed as we speak on a number of levels, including the gradation of driverﾒs licenses, which includes who can drive these things, because right now anyone can take your driverﾒs license and jump behind (the wheel of) these huge vehicles,” Mrs. Hanna-Martin said.
“There is a different type of license but the training is the same ﾖ there is no distinct training for driving these vehicles.”
Mr. Thompson said the results of the IDB-funded ALG study are critical.
“It is very, very important that this study be carried out in a methodical way, in a systematic way, so that we can come up with the solutions and we can have the execution of those solutions carried out in an orderly and a timely fashion,” Mr. Thompson said.
According to Mr. Thompson, the congestion that now exists in The Bahamas affects the quality of life of Bahamians and because of this there is a need to move “post haste” towards a solution.
“I cannot overemphasize how important it is that this study be carried out, and more importantly, how important it is that we execute the recommendations of the committee, or the professional group which is carrying out the study for us,” he asserted.
Mr. Thompson said he expected the report to be completed by next month.
He insisted that the fact that a Spanish group is conducting the study does not mean that there were no Bahamian companies available to or capable of doing the work.
“As part of this package, this arrangement we have with the IDB,” he explained, “one of the terms of reference for the entire operation is for us to engage the services of a reputable experienced professional company to do this.”
“The group that was selected to carry out the study is a group that would have done similar studies around the world, and so this is not where you just pick up any group or any person and say, “what do you think about the traffic?” This is a study that has to be done in this way, and I am very optimistic and that this study will yield the desired results of bringing a tremendous amount of relief to the streets of New Providence.”
By: Quincy Parker, The Bahama Journal
