Moves to ease traffic gridlock in north

Barbados is recording average traffic speeds as low as five kilometres per hour on some of its main highways, with key junctions in the north and west among the worst chokepoints — prompting the Ministry of Transport and Works to propose road widening, AI-powered signals and a possible one-way system for parts of St Michael.

Deputy Chief Technical Officer Jason Bowen, who is responsible for design services in the transport ministry, outlined the proposals on Wednesday during the fourth National Consultation on Traffic at Alexandra School, pointing to data showing just how severe delays have become.

Presenting findings on traffic conditions across the island’s main routes, Bowen said average speeds along several highways have dropped to alarmingly low levels.

“There are a number of roads…these are the main highways one through even. You can see in some cases some roads are at five kilometres per hour, average… so you can tell persons are moving quite slowly, which is a serious indicator of significant congestion along these roads,” he explained.

Data gathered from the navigation app Waze also highlighted the worst-affected areas, with heavy congestion concentrated along major corridors.

“You can see those would correspond to the ABC Highway, Ronald Mapp Highway, the South Coast Road and also the road along the west coast,” Bowen said, noting that these routes consistently register the highest levels of traffic buildup.

Several key junctions were also identified as critical bottlenecks, particularly for commuters travelling from northern parishes.

Among them is the Ronald Mapp Highway/Porters-Westmoreland junction, where Bowen said congestion is especially severe during peak hours.

“You can see the deep reds…especially on mornings,” he said pointing to the red lines on the app’s map. “That corresponds to the significant congestion that you would face in that area. So we know that junction is a problem. We are reviewing the signal times to see how best we can improve the situation.”

Another trouble spot is the Church Hill/Church Street/KNR Husbands Roundabout junction, where traffic heading toward Bridgetown regularly slows to a crawl.

“That approach has significant congestion, particularly in the mornings, so that’s another area where we have to look at the junction and rephase and retime the signals,” Bowen added.

To address these issues, the ministry is pursuing three main strategies: expanding road capacity, optimising traffic flow and managing demand.

Capacity expansion will include road-widening projects, with the Ronald Mapp Highway, stretching from Warrens to Mile and a Quarter, identified as a priority.

“We are actively looking to improve the capacity along that road…because there are capacity problems there’s significant delay,” he said.

Traffic authorities are also exploring upgrades to traffic signal systems across the island, including the introduction of artificial intelligence.

Bowen said: “All [signals] have to be rephased and retimed… We are actually looking at new technology… using artificial intelligence [which] monitors via cameras traffic flows, and then… recalibrates the signal times relative to the amount of traffic going through the junctions.”

In addition to infrastructure and technology fixes, the ministry is also considering demand management measures, including possible changes to how roads are used.

These include the introduction of a one-way system in parts of St Michael, along with dedicated or shared lanes for public transport and cyclists.

“We may be looking at implementing [a one-way system] and with that, we could dedicate one of those lanes to public transport or a shared use lane and also a cycle lane as well,” Bowen said. 

(SB)