Nationwide road repairs and infrastructure push announced

Barbados is set for a major overhaul of its roads and public spaces, with Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw unveiling a series of nationwide infrastructure projects aimed at improving safety, accessibility and economic opportunity for communities.

Speaking at the Barbados Labour Party’s Christ Church East branch annual general meeting at St Christopher Primary School on Sunday, Bradshaw said several “sample roads” had already been completed as part of preliminary works to test the application of recycled materials in paving.

“Just for clarity, the short roads are not the main roads, they’re not the primary roads, they’re the roads that sometimes lead to people’s houses where the surface is uneven, that we can put in the milling material off of the roads that we scrape when we’re doing the milling and paving and be able to sand seal the surface,” said Bradshaw, who is also the transport minister.

“In this financial year, it is our intention to get going with that programme. We’ve already started the assessments of a number of the roads and very shortly we will be rolling out the programme across the entire country. Of course [Christ Church East MP Wilfred Abrahams] might have to wait a little bit on the short roads because he’s got quite a few, and the rural parishes have really been crying out for assistance for us to address that.”

Alongside the Short Roads Programme, Bradshaw highlighted the Cart Roads Initiative as a tool for economic empowerment. The initiative aims to engage small and medium-sized contractors in road improvement projects, aligning with the government’s broader mandate to provide fairer access to public contracts.

The deputy PM explained: “The cart road programme is intended as well to be able to help a number of the small contractors and medium-sized contractors, which again has been our mandate from the time we came to office—to be able to empower people to play a role within the rollout of the government contracts and, in particular, road works. We are working through the assessment, so I assure you that if there are others to be added, as I have done on every occasion when it comes to road infrastructure, I try to give everybody a little something.”

Addressing larger infrastructural undertakings, Bradshaw pointed to the Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) programme, which includes major roads such as Chancery Lane which is “in the process of being designed”. 

“Before I can determine that I’m going to fix Chancery Lane, I have to get designs done. I have to consider the drainage, I have to meet with the utility companies to decide how many utility poles I’m going to have to move. I also have to engage with the Barbados Water Authority to determine whether they have mains that are at the point where they need to be replaced. I have to then also liaise with the NPC [National Petroleum Corporation]. I have to talk to Flow. I have to talk to Digicel,” she said.

“So the coordination of efforts sometimes is really what causes the delay or the slow pace of the implementation.”

She acknowledged that coordination across agencies can cause delays, but assured constituents that the government has significantly accelerated the pace of road repairs. “Without fear of contradiction, I can say we’ve done more roads than probably any government in this country’s history.”

Bradshaw also revealed that pavement improvement projects are in the pipeline, especially in urban centres. The goal, she said, is to enhance accessibility for elderly and disabled individuals.

She explained: “We have some pavement projects that are going to be coming shortly because I feel very passionately that, particularly in our city centre areas, we need to make sure that the access in the city centres, that [in] those areas, there is a free flow of access not just for able-bodied individuals but also for our disabled community. It is important for me that as we do the planning in those cities that we ensure that the kerbs and such are conducive to people who are elderly, people who have any form of disability as well, to be able to ensure that they have the mobility in those various areas.”

In response to growing safety concerns, the deputy prime minister said the government recently gave the go-ahead for a new community lighting project. She disclosed that she recently proposed to Prime Minister Mia Mottley that some solar lights be redirected to areas flagged by police and residents as high-risk.

Bradshaw said: “One of the things that I proposed to the prime minister a few days ago was that we perhaps switch out some of the lights that we currently have, the solar lights, and use those immediately in the communities where the police have raised concerns, and that many of you have also raised concerns, so that we can improve the condition of lighting in those very difficult spaces and very dark areas at this point in time. We have that project, we’re waiting just to be able to sign off, I think, on getting the additional lights in. But the thrust of the government is certainly to be able to improve the infrastructure and to make sure that we have the necessary infrastructure that is required.”

Bradshaw said consideration was also being given to speed humps in various communities. (SB)