Road safety campaigner wants holistic planning, public input on overpasses

As the government mulls an ambitious infrastructure plan to tackle the island’s chronic traffic congestion, president of the Road Safety Association, Roland Lowe, is calling for a “multifaceted” approach that prioritises human safety over mere vehicular flow.

Lowe was responding to the prime minister’s announcement in Parliament on Wednesday that overpasses will be constructed within 18 months.

While he expressed support for the initiative, he warned that the success of such massive projects hinges entirely on “adequate consultation and consideration of the thoughts and the opinions of the persons who actually use the particular roads”.

With public consultations set to begin next month, Lowe emphasised that the government must be prepared to listen to commuters’ lived experiences.

He told Barbados TODAY: “I haven’t heard the specific comments from the Prime Minister relative to overpasses… but as long as the authorities are willing to take and to hear, which seems to be the position, then I believe that is a good position to take.”

Congestion has reached a breaking point for many, Lowe said, with citizens reaching out to him personally to vent their frustrations.

“Everyone who uses the road knows that the roads are extremely congested in a few particular areas,” he said, recounting a recent conversation with a motorist who spoke “at length” regarding “lack of and improper or inadequate road markings.”

Critics of overpasses question whether they will serve the surrounding community or simply create a high-speed corridor for cars that leaves others behind.

The road safety advocate addressed the social cost of large-scale engineering, specifically the potential “fragmentation of communities” and the displacement of residents, arguing that thorough consultation is the only way to “minimize the negative impacts” on neighbourhoods through which these overpasses may run.

Lowe was firm on the principle of inclusivity among “non-negotiable” safety standards his association would demand.

“The main thing to consider is that all of us use the roads and we just can’t put things in place to serve… motor vehicles,” Lowe said. “You have to remember there are also motorcyclists, bicyclists, and… pedestrians.”

Any new infrastructure must account for these “different tiers and levels of road users” to avoid the “scourge of bad behaviour” often seen in the public service vehicle (PSV) industry, he said.

Addressing the critique that “more roads encourage more cars,” he suggested that infrastructure is only one piece of the puzzle.

“In relation to any problem, I think that a multifaceted or multifunctional approach is always better than using one approach or a limited set of approaches.”  

While acknowledging that more roads provide “improved access” and a “variation in roads that can be taken”, he pointed towards social solutions like carpooling to reduce the sheer volume of vehicles occupying the roads at any given time.

“Every day, you don’t need to take two vehicles; you get in one vehicle and you organise the times to suit and limit the amount of vehicles on the road in that way.”

For the overpasses to function effectively, Lowe stressed that the technical details — such as lighting and merging lanes — must be handled with precision.

He highlighted the need for “a consolidated and outlined and expressed standard” for how these new features should be used, noting that even existing features like roundabouts cause confusion due to inconsistent lane markings.

“We have to look at efficacy,” Lowe said. “There are markings or some of the lights are used, but the lights are not the lights that are supposed to be used in the situation where they’re already positioned.”

He further argued that because overpasses are a new feature for the Barbadian landscape, a “continuous” educational programme is required.

“You have to keep informing, keep educating the public as to how these things are supposed to be used… there needs to be monitoring as to how the things are being used.”

Lowe addressed the fear that overpasses will simply move the traffic jam from one point to another. He argued that if an overpass is “well-thought-out,” it doesn’t need to land exactly at a destination like Warrens to be effective.

“It would [not] make sense bringing the overpass and then landing it in a heavily congested area,” he noted. Instead, by landing the traffic in a nearby, less congested zone, a driver might still save “20, 30 minutes sitting in traffic.”

“Barbados is small,” Lowe added. “It’s a matter of thinking it through, proper consultation, and not just doing it willy-nilly, but having a well-thought-out plan. It can have a positive effect, but it needs to be implemented properly.”

ricardoroberts@barbadostoday.bb