Driving at night on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway is only for those who know the road

Dear Editor,

Opened in 1968, the 44-year-old Linden-Soesdyke Highway which stretches for 40 miles sandwiched between verdant vegetation as it courses its way through creek, valley and hills, has served its time well. The term ‘value for money‘ now in vogue, is a yard-stick for examining and assessing work done, and can be aptly applied in this instance.

But as we all know there is a life-span for everything built, that over time reaches a critical point, more so when due attention is not being paid by periodic maintenance. This to my mind seems to be the problem facing the Linden-Soesdyke Highway. Travelling by night is a dangerous and frightening experience; in the words of one commuter, “Yuh ga fuh know the road,“ and believe me dear readers, that comment is gospel.

The years have certainly taken the best of it, which is evident to all who regularly travel. There are a number of positive actions that should be taken if we are serious about keeping this highway safe – lord knows, we have had too many unnecessary and nonsensical accidents and losses of life and limb.

(a) Too many long sections of the road undulate, and if vehicles, especially buses transporting commuters, are not equipped with proper shock absorbers, may Jesus be your shepherd, for your journey becomes a constant jerking, and is most uncomfortable. Drivers constantly criss-cross from one side to the other to avoid the bad portions, returning to the right lane only when there is an oncoming vehicle. So there are definitely parts that need resurfacing.

(b) There is also need for more reflectors on the road; lighted posts on turns, even higher up; and brightening the marking lines on the road.

(c) Trees are too near the road and should be regularly trimmed; they should not be breaking and falling across the highway!

(d) Definitely there is need for some amount of lighting along the highway. Worst of all and most scary are those timber/logging trucks that are still running throughout the night, breaking down and parking wherever without any reflectors, parking lights or ring reflector barriers that can be seen from a distance. The long protruding lumber tightly packed and menacing looking, sets one’s imagination alight – a dread sense of foreboding. Then too most of the lumber-truck drivers are not courteous; they seldom dip their lights, no matter what! Equally guilty of this  behaviour are others drivers, also; for whatever reason they don’t seem to understand that their high beam lights causing trouble for other drivers spell equal danger for them as well. Thus, it is high time the traffic department patrolled regularly along the highway, moreso at nights. The nonsensical and dumb things that go on would shock you out of your skin. Cops plying the highway would certainly help to maintain some level of road sanity. Was it an oversight when the Ministry of Public Works embarked on the dismantling of billboards along the highway they didn’t examine other areas of safety?

At one time it appeared as if our roads had become the killing fields, for the carnage seemed unstoppable with the highway taking a heavy toll accounting for and providing some of the most horrifying and nauseating spectacles from accidents. It has been 43 years; it is time that serious consideration be given to prevent as far as possible further mishaps and fatalities.

May I take the liberty to add that this call for attention on the highway has got to be kind of psychic, for within ten minutes of finishing this letter I got an unexpected and most surprising call from a woman who asked me: “Frank, when yuh gon write something about the highway; yuh know that thing is a death trap?”

Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe