Island-wide road rehab moving on

The government is ramping up road rehabilitation projects across Barbados in the coming weeks, Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Works Santia Bradshaw has announced.

As the island prepares for an increase in roadworks, she urged the public to exercise patience and caution while travelling through affected areas.

“Over the next couple of weeks, Barbadians can expect to see heightened activities in road work across the island,” Bradshaw said, adding that this new phase builds on last year’s Accelerated Mill and Pave Programme, which brought relief to several roads.

“In most cases, these were roads that did not require major rehabilitation. They didn’t require the utilities to be changed, and for the most part, they were quick in terms of being able to have a relatively good turnaround on the road improvement.”

Bradshaw revealed that the latest road assessments were influenced by public concerns raised through social media, parliamentary representatives, and the government’s Parish Speaks initiative, which allows Barbadians to share urgent issues in their communities.

She said: “Over the last few months, we’ve spent a lot of time at MTW doing the assessments on a number of roads across the island. Many of these roads have come up out of complaints on social media. They’ve come about as a result of representations from the members of Parliament. Also, in relation to Parish Speaks, which has served as a vehicle to be able to raise awareness about a number of roads across Barbados that are in dire need of rehabilitation.”

With the dry season providing favourable conditions, work will commence in multiple areas, complementing ongoing projects in the Scotland District and under the programme funded by CAF, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.

“We’ve taken all of that into account, and across the various programmes, we’ve placed a number of these roads so that we can start again in the dry season and a number of road works programmes across the entire island,” she said.

One of the first areas to see improvements is Chelston Avenue, St Michael, with additional locations to follow.

The minister acknowledged the temporary disruptions but assured that the long-term benefits would outweigh the inconveniences.

“Yes, there will be diversions, but the end result, as you saw last year with the Mill & Pave Programme, is that Barbadians and certainly all visitors to the island will have a smoother access across the road network of the country,” she said. 

(SM)