Dear Editor, Previous to the start of the latest version of the New Providence Road Improvement Project (NPRIP), I thought the road network in New Providence was a complete disaster. Gridlock was the order of the day. That is why when Hubert Ingraham and the Free National Movement (FNM) got in in 2007, I was happy to hear that a big move was going to be made to fix the roads. I, like thousands of other Bahamians, became dismayed watching what unfolded. There was digging, then paving, then digging, then blocked roads all over our main island. Misery followed.
We the Bahamian people were treated to several years of hell on the streets. What made it worse was when it was revealed that the project went about $100 million over its budget. So, in a nutshell, we were made miserable and some of our money was wasted. Anyway, here we are near the end. And thank God we are near the end. Luckily for us all, despite the poor management and the large amount of money spent on the project, the roads are looking good and they seem to be helping to ease traffic congestion. A couple of points have to be addressed, however.
Firstly, there has to be an upgrade to how we manage traffic lights. In this day and age of smart technology, there must be a smart system somewhere that can be installed and managed to regulate how the lights work. For example, I live in eastern New Providence. The light at the intersection of Fox Hill Road and Prince Charles Drive was just recently turned on again. The problem is that southbound traffic is often backed up on Fox Hill Road. The light needs to be adjusted to allow for more time on this side. Is anyone monitoring this? Does anyone care? If these beautiful roads 'Papa' built for us are going to function optimally, equal attention needs to be applied to the lights.
Secondly, police really now are going to have to actually patrol and enforce traffic laws. We have essentially created a whole series of highways. Average speeds have increased dramatically as a result. Those who formally got away unharmed with silly and dangerous driving habits will now cause major accidents doing the same foolishness while travelling at double the speed. Police need to be very aggressive on these new roads and give tickets for all infractions of the road safety laws just as they do in the major cities in the United States.
For some reason, no matter how many cars you buy the Royal Bahamas Police Force, you can never see them in overwhelming numbers on the streets of New Providence. Maybe Commissioner Ellison Greenslade should dedicate some of his time each week to doing surprise checks on his traffic and patrol officers to see if they actually are where they should be. Currently, they are not. Ingraham and the FNM rightly took a lot of abuse for the poor execution of the road project.
The FNM likely lost some votes because of it. Many people were inconvenienced and many businesses lost money or closed as a result. I hope future governments learn from the FNM's mistakes and do better. But in the end, the project was necessary. I hope our government agencies are now willing to do those other things to make our traffic flows better and our roads safer. - Darwin R. Luther
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