Priority repairs to highways and secondary roads are made using a software system

By Marlon Madden

A scientific method is being used for selecting the order of roads to be rehabilitated in Barbados.

Amid public outcry regarding the selection of some roadways ahead of others which appear to be in a more dire state, the authorities have given the assurance that it is not arbitrary.

Moreover, officials of the Ministry of Transport, Works and Water Resources have indicated that if the current work was not carried out on the south bound lane of the ABC Highway, the repairs could easily cost as much as four times the estimated $2 million to $2.5 million.

In recent times, residents have been complaining, especially on radio programmes, that the Government has chosen to fix the ABC Highway that appears to be less damaged than some smaller roadways which now have gaping potholes, cracks and uneven surfaces.

However, during a press conference on Monday at the Barbados Water Authority (BWA), ministry officials insisted that those roads being worked on were a priority, based on the software system, the Highway Development and Management (HDM)-4 model. Additionally, the volume of traffic on a daily basis, the make up of that traffic and condition surveys were all determining factors in the process, they said.

Chief Technical Officer of the Ministry of Transport and Works Cheryl Bennett-Inniss said in addition to the ABC Highway, other areas that were considered priority included the Mighty Grynner Highway and the Charles Duncan O’neal Highway which runs through St Lucy.

“Every road in Barbados is pretty much important to us because it is giving you access to your home, school, work and recreational places. But as we keep saying, with the limited funds we have, we have to put them in order of priority,” Bennett-Inniss insisted.

“I can close my eyes and tell you that the ABC Highway will always be on the top of the list when it is needed . . . So for those who think that it was unnecessary to do what we are doing today, it was four or five years in the making to get it done and if we did not act now the cost of doing it later would be three to four times more to get it done,” she said.

Bennett-Inniss said limited financial resources were hindering a more broadscale project taking place, noting that there was no bias on the part of ministry officials regarding which roads should be fixed first.

“We try to use the ability and data we have in hand to prioritise those roads. That is largely how we go about our work,” she said, while indicating that it was not an easy decision to make.

Around the middle of last year, Government got US$215 million (BDS$430 million) in financing to carry out road infrastructure resilience projects. This included US$50 from the Latin American Development Bank (CAF), US$50 million from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and US$115 million from the Exim Bank of China.

Philip Tudor, Deputy Chief Technical Officer of Operations at the Ministry of Transport and Works, said some 60 roads have been identified as priority under the CAF road rehabilitation programme including Highway 7 (south coast road) and Yorkshire Road in Christ Church and Passage Road onto Waterford Road in St Michael.

Tudor told reporters those were among the heavily-trafficked roads and that some of them will be done in the 2023/2024 financial year.

“Yorkshire alone is over $3 million . . . That is another one of the reasons some of these roads take so long to be worked on, because of the sheer cost,” he said.

The Scotland District Road Rehabilitation Project, which is being carried out by the Chinese firm COMPLANT (China National Complete Plant Import & Export Group Corporation Ltd), the same company that worked on the Wyndham Sam Lord’s Castle project, will include more than 50 roads and 12 bridges spanning over 224 kilometres over the next three years.

Meanwhile, six roads have been proposed under the IDB project, which include sections of the ABC Highway, Highway Three, Highway Six and areas between the Crane to Sam Lord’s Castle, as well as Carmichael Road in St George from the Turnpike to Boarded Hall.

Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources Santia Bradshaw said officials of the ministry were sensitive to the plight of all residents across the island, as she gave the assurance that the Government was doing all it could to improve the road infrastructure with limited resources.

She said the international financial institutions did not determine what roads were to be repaired and when, but they would provide technical assistance for the assessments to be carried out and provide some oversight.

“It is not free money. It is money that we have to meet certain commitments – reports have to be written by the project managers. They have their people to review the various stages before monies can actually be drawn down. So it is a very stringent and rigid process for us to be able to access those resources,” she added. marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb