Community activist Adrian Donovan is appealing to authorities to implement a traffic management plan to ease the traffic woes in Oistins, Christ Church.
He told Barbados TODAY that after many years of consistent congestion on the busy main road, and despite several accidents occurring at the entrances to the drive-thrus of the two main fast food restaurants in the area, the situation is yet to be addressed.
Donovan said some business owners affected by the traffic congestion have long called for the situation to be remedied.
“This is really a call for the transport management authorities in the country to take another look at the flow of traffic in this particular area,” he said.
“I don’t know if anything could be done to realign the entrance of the drive-thrus and find another entrance, if that is possible, but something has to be done because it is too congested and going forward I don’t see the situation getting better. I believe that somewhere there is a plan, but the time has come now that we have to move with haste.”
According to Donovan, the problem is at its worst on weekends when there is a hive of business activity in the area. He noted that on Fridays and Saturdays, the traffic is likely to stretch at least a mile.
“The situation is also compounded….by the taxi drivers who want to make sure that they make a dollar, so they can’t get the tourists who leave the stalls immediately and they find somewhere close where they could park their cars. That location right now is by the gas station and sometimes people can’t even get gas from the gas station,” he said.
“So we really just need that authorities look for a better traffic management plan to ease the congestion here in Oistins. We are not making a complaint; it is a suggestion for everybody who traverses the area.”
Stall owner at the Oistins Bay Garden, Suzette Gerald-Bispham said she and other food operators are losing business as a result of the congestion.
“With all of the backup traffic, people are not coming and people are telling you ‘I don’t want to come through Oistins on weekends, it is too backed up’. And sometimes even when you go to town and are coming up in the minivan, you have to stay so long in the minivan before you reach Oistins. This really needs looking into. It has been going on for so long and we call out to the police, we call out to everybody,” a fed-up Gerald-Bispham said.
The owner of Angels Cafeteria suggested that Oistins Hill should be used as the gateway for vehicles going into at least one of the fast food restaurants.
(anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)
