Training to be done to educate commuters on usage of overhead passes

The Public Infrastructure Ministry will be conducting several training programmes to educate commuters on the safe use of the newly constructed pedestrian overpasses.

This was related to Guyana Times on Monday by Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson during a telephone interview.
He noted, “We want the pedestrians to be able to use the overpass properly so we will be training a few persons on the proper usage before we open it publicly”.
Patterson was unable to say when the new utilities will be officially completed, since some final works are yet to be carried out. “We are doing it now so I would hope very shortly. I can only say very shortly,” he added.
When this publication visited an overpass located in Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara, the technical crew was hard at work trying to install the elevator which is expected to be used by the elderly who are unable to use the stairs.
Head of the Work Services Group (WSG) Geoffery Vaughn, recently told this newspaper that the works to the overpasses were completed.
“The actual overpass is finished but there are some works that we want to check on before we fully hand it over. The only thing that was being done was the elevator and they’re actually done with the elevators. There are some parts that we still need to check to ensure that the elevator is working effectively and efficiently so that we don’t have any hiccups when we open them,” Vaughn stated.
After the checks are made and confirmed, the overpasses will then be commissioned for public use. As of now, pedestrians are utilising the crossings to ensure they traverse the roadway safely. However, the new elevators are still dormant.
At present, there are five pedestrian overpasses located at Houston, Eccles, Peter’s Hall, Providence and Diamond. Ten lifts were sourced from Sweden earlier this year and two will be installed; one on each side of the crosswalk.
Construction of the pedestrian overpasses commenced mid-last year and was almost completed by December 2017. The contract for the overpasses at Houston, Eccles and Peter’s Hall were awarded to B&J Civil Works for the sum of US$1,034,326. Meanwhile, there were separate contracts for the Providence and Diamond overpasses which were both awarded to S Jagmohan Hardware Supplies and Construction Services to the tune of US$364,247 and US$364,727 respectively.
Trinidadian supervision firm RM Engineering Limited, was recruited to oversee the construction of the overpasses.
The introduction of these flyovers was intended not only to reduce the high level of road carnage and to eliminate traffic congestion along the East Bank Road, which is said to be the busiest in the country.
While many concerns were raised about the time it takes to walk the flight of stairs, the Public Infrastructure Ministry noted previously that this guarantees their safety.