Sections of the Kitty Public Road will be closed and traffic will be redirected sometime next month when the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) expects to begin works to fix the sinkhole along the Seawall Road and surrounding defects.
Head of the ministry’s Work Services Group Geoffrey Vaughn told Stabroek News yesterday that a sum of $142 million has been set aside for the repairs to underlying pipes and the replacement of the road. The works are expected to last between two to three months.
“We need to replace several pipes that are under the road around the area and a provisional sum is in the bill in case of added works when the whole surface has been opened up,” Vaughn said. He added that when workers actually get under the road, they might discover that the damage was more severe than they had initially thought.
As a result, he explained, when the work starts, the area from Queen Street to Vlissingen Road will be closed and traffic travelling west along the Kitty Public Road will have to divert along Queen Street and exit David Street.
“As soon as the work starts, the area will be closed off and we want to complete the work in the fastest time because we want to have people using the road again as quickly as possible,” he said. The work will be done in two parts. The second part will see the junction at Carifesta Avenue, Rupert Craig Highway and Vlissingen Road closed.
“We estimate that the works will take about two to three months, but we could wrap up before… There is an extended period because, like I said, sometimes you get down and the pipes are worse and you have to replace more than one. Once something is buried, you have to get under and see the problem to know what you have to fix,” he added.
He said the project was currently at the evaluation stage, which was expected to be wrapped up soon.
While it was reported that the work was being done in collaboration with the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), Vaughn explained that the M&CC was just on the committee and the ministry will be doing the work.
A small sinkhole had developed late in December and the MPI along with the M&CC had enlarged it in order to apply a temporary fix. One of the engineers on site had explained to Stabroek News that the depression in the road, which resulted in the formation of the sinkhole, was due to a galvanized pipe bursting and letting water under the road, causing a traffic hazard to users of the thoroughfare.
However, a week later, a few more depressions appeared on the road, several feet away from the sinkhole, suggesting that the temporary fix was not addressing the main issue.
