Dear Editor,
I was in South Ruimveldt on Sunday afternoon, and while walking across the Plaza bridge, I observed what I considered a prime example of waste.
I traversed that bridge the previous Sunday and was delighted to find that there was a defined walkway for pedestrian traffic moving between Aubrey Barker Street and Mandela Avenue. This week as I walked across the bridge I could not help but ask myself a question, namely, what is the purpose of the rail on the eastern side of the bridge (in fact it is no longer a bridge)? For the benefit of members of the public, if they have not been that way recently, in the last few days on the eastern side of the link between Aubrey Barker Street and Mandela Avenue (extension of David Rose Street), a paved walkway, approximately 8˝ higher than the road surface was constructed. East of this walkway is the rail to which I refer. In other words, the walkway is between the rail and the road. This is the sort of rail used for bordering highways, especially alongside ditches and at dangerous bends. In effect these are crash rails to keep vehicles on the road to avert excessive damage to limb and property. In the case in point beyond the rail is a fence approximately 20 feet away and the surface between the two is relatively flat, hence it is not placed to avert serious injury/damage.
The logical position for such a rail if it is deemed necessary should have been between the road and the walkway. In this way pedestrians would have been protected from out of control vehicles. As it is at the moment the rail would increase the possible danger to a pedestrian on the walkway if a vehicle is out of control. It also has the potential to increase the gravity of injury that may be inflicted, for now not only would the person be struck, but there is also a likelihood that he/she may be crushed between the vehicle and the rail.
The location of this rail also raises a question of priority; is it the most critical area for the placement of such a rail on our roads? While I do not have the statistics, I can easily name at least three areas on the East Bank Public Road where such rails are extremely necessary. Rails aside, was it the best use of the meagre budget we set aside for roadworks? Certainly not. Just about one hour before walking across that bridge, I was on the Railway Embankment Highway on the East Coast. That road is simply begging for some repairs. Some may say that the cost of rails at the Plaza bridge would not suffice to do the embankment road, but I saw signs of other such rails going up at Vlissengen and Thomas Road for instance.
I am ignorant about the decision-making process as far as such things are concerned, but I would certainly wish that those who are charged with such responsibilities exercise better judgement, as they spend our tax dollars and the loans which we’ll be forced to repay in the future.
Yours faithfully,
Elton McRae
