BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN an effort to better control the flow of traffic with a view of public safety, the Government has decided to install a number of traffic lights within certain areas in downtown Basseterre.
At the recent contract signing for construction of the second pier at Port Zante, Minister with Responsibility for Public Infrastructure, Hon. Ian Liburd told reporters that his Ministry had already awarded the contract for the installation of the traffic lights and that initial works had begun.
“We are hopeful that the first phase of that project would be completed before Christmas,” Liburd said.
The Minster noted that such lights would help to manage the flow of traffic, noting that there is a manual way of conducting traffic but “we have moved on a more scientific basis”.
He reminded that they had conducted a traffic count earlier in the year to study the flow of traffic and “that determined where we should put those traffic lights”.
The traffic lights will be installed at the intersection of Fort Street, Cayon Street and Victoria Road; the bottom of Fort Street where it connects to the Bay Road; and at the roundabout that mitigates traffic flow from Cayon Street, Wellington Road and Pond Road.
Meanwhile, in an interview with WINN FM, Traffic Chief Inspector Carl Caines explained that they are expecting to have the lights working for Christmas.
“The work commenced on the weekend, Saturday 18th, and as we speak they are on the ground right now and it is expected that by the Christmas season, if not functional, they should be already installed, in place and the testing period will take place. And after that we will see how it goes from there.”
Caines stressed they now have to undertake an educational drive because some individuals are not acquainted with the functioning of traffic lights.
“All of us will have to comply with the laws in regard to the street lights,” he however added.
A number of islands in the region have already installed traffic lights to aid in the smooth flow of traffic.
However, many have speculated that if some streets are not changed to facility either two-lane traffic, the possibility exists that there would be congestions in the heart of asseterre, especially during peak periods.
Minister Liburd confessed that the lights general “wouldn’t limit the congestion” all together.
“What I would like to see, and I have said it to the Traffic and Public Service Board is, we take a more scientific approach to traffic,” Liburd said.
