Road linking ECD with EBD still to commence

2 years after loan approved

Two years following the signing of a concessional loan with the Government of India, construction is still to commence on the new road linking the East Coast of Demerara with the East Bank of Demerara.
The road, which will link Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD) to Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD), is intended to reduce congestion by providing commuters with an alternative route, with construction scheduled to begin in late 2016.
However, although it was announced by Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson that works were set to commence at the end of 2016, it was now being reported by the Ministry that the project was still in the preparatory stage.
The project reportedly has three distinctive stages: stage one – detailed project report preparation; stage two – construction supervision and stage three – post-construction/defects liability period.
The final report of stage one, which is being undertaken by an Indian company called RITES Limited for the sum of US$1,321,000, is expected to be submitted in April of next year, with actual construction expected to start that July.
This stage had commenced in April 13, 2018 and to date the consultant (RITES) has submitted the inception and feasibility reports. The Public Infrastructure Ministry in a statement on Tuesday disclosed that the “new road will also integrate other local distributor roads on the East Bank Demerara with the road network of Georgetown and East Coast Demerara corridor while simultaneously improving the connectivity with the Ogle Airport”.
According to the Ministry, “this is consistent with the Transportation Policy Proposal of the Greater Georgetown Development Plan (2001-2013) aiming to link the road networks on the East Coast Demerara, East Bank Demerara and the capital city”. Currently, the East Bank Highway is the only exit route available to residents who live in Georgetown, ECD and EBD.
Since these areas are below sea level and prone to flooding, the importance of an alternative route in the case of any major natural disaster was also outlined. The design will allow for a new alignment (approximately 15 kilometres long) which will connect the ECD to the EBD at the aforementioned limits.
It will also allow for the integration with the existing road network via a number of connector roads with Aubrey Barker Road, Haags Bosch Road, Mocha Arcadia Road and Diamond Access Road. According to the Ministry, “Based on submissions thus far the approximate budget is 104 million United States dollars (US$104,000,000).”