Slow moving vehicles barred from city, East Bank roads during rush hour

As of Wednesday last, motor lorries and slow-moving vehicles are no longer allowed to use city streets and East Bank Public Road between Houston and Timehri from Monday to Saturday between 07:00 hrs and 09:00 hrs and 16:00 hrs and 18:00 hrs.

This stipulation, a police press release said on Thursday, was put in place after members of the public raised concerns about traffic congestion.

Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee, police further said, signed the order in keeping with Section 48.1of the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act Chapter 51:02.

“I think this is the third or fourth time they have done this,” a Lombard Street businessman told this newspaper yesterday. “And like all the times before it will affect our business operations.”

The man, who declined to have his name published, explained that between 7 am and 9 am he would usually move goods from storage bond to his Lombard Street business. During that time in the morning, he explained, is the best time to get such things done because of the type of goods he deals with.

Another Lombard Street businessman also said that his delivery of goods to customers will be greatly affected. Since 2007, the man recalled, the “on again, off again” decision to haul lorries off the roadway during a certain time has affected his business.

“At that hour of the morning I would already have drivers out on the road travelling to certain locations to deliver goods… many stops are along the East Bank Demerara and that route is also used to get to the West Demerara,” the second businessman noted, “so definitely our schedule has been thrown off.”

However, several commuters who spoke with Stabroek News were not too sympathetic to the inconvenience caused to these businessmen.

“When they got their trucks blocking up the road and causing heavy traffic build-up in the morning,” a West Demerara commuter pointed out, “they don’t care for the fix they put us in… I am looking forward to less traffic in the morning.”

Another commuter, who lives on the East Bank Demerara, said that many mornings trucks or tractors and trailers cause a heavy build-up of traffic. “Many mornings I get from where I live in Diamond to the Ruimveldt Police Station area in about 20 minutes and then I spend the same amount of time waiting for the traffic to flow from there into Lombard Street and then into the bus park… sometimes those businesses on Lombard Street does normally have their truck offloading goods and holding up the traffic so I am happy they are off the road when I have to get to work.”

In January, less than a month after its institution, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) had rescinded an earlier restriction order which prevented motor lorries from traversing between Houston and Timehri on the East Bank Public Road, between 6 am and 11 am.