I wish to highlight the daily traffic congestion at the Endeavour overpass next to PriceSmart in Chaguanas. The overpass has recently been upgraded on its eastern side, thereby easing the congestion somewhat. No work was done on the western side presumably due to a lack of ample space.
Over 50 per cent of the vehicles going across to the western side are seeking to enter the northbound Uriah Butler Highway. This traffic usually snags at the Medford gas station, causing huge pile-up all the way into Lange Park itself. It is a daily horrendous situation.
A simple economical solution can be tried by implementing a partly cloverleaf design overpass on its south-western side, as was done with the Couva overpass. This was a great job.
This can be accomplished by utilising the existing closed-off ramp on the said location. This will be used to port northbound UBH traffic left down the ramp in a southerly direction then circled around onto the northbound UBH, aka cloverleaf-design type.
This will drastically improve the Medford gas station intersection lock-up with a total effect on the entire hub, both east and west of the overpass. This process can easily be implemented on a test basis using the existing ramp and building a swing-back.
One possible drawback might be encountered on mornings when traffic slows down on the highway itself. This can be overcome by extending the ramp further south before swinging back the traffic onto the northbound UBH, creating more space.
If this doesn’t work or creates a bigger problem on mornings, then maybe it can be time-controlled with no access between 6.30 am–8.30 am. It, however, will work like a charm for the entire rest of the day. It’s at least worth a try with the expected gridlock for Christmas just around the corner.
S Furlonge