Ogle to Eccles “Bypass” Highway Will Further Congest the Traffic at Golden Grove

11th of April, 2022. Region 4, Guyana, South America

A politically connected person posted this photo on Facebook and captioned it: Soon I’ll be avoiding East Bank Traffic to and from ECCLES..THANK YOU President Irfaan Ali.

Yes, you will avoiding the traffic from Georgetown to Eccles, but you will be running straight into the traffic at Golden Grove – making it even worse.

If you are looking to ease congestion along the East Bank of Demerara at Region 4, Guyana, South America, everyone knows that the first place you need to tackle is the public road that runs through the commercial stretch at Golden Grove – just after Diamond. This is where the four-lane road at Diamond converges into a two-lane road at Golden Grove resulting in the heaviest congestion along the East Bank of Demerara.

Last year, we looked on in astonishment and bewilderment as the government announced plans to build a bypass road from Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara to Eccles on the East Bank. This is evidently intended to ease traffic congestion from Georgetown to Eccles. However, the traffic from Georgetown to Eccles is nothing compared to the traffic along the public road at Golden Grove where the four-lane highway converges into a two-lane road.

You can stand for about three hours and not be able to cross the road at Golden Grove due to the traffic congestion. It is especially dangerous for children and the elderly, and it’s especially sickening to watch the elderly struggle to cross. If the bypass road had connected from Ogle to somewhere past Golden Grove, like say, Friendship Village, where the traffic peters out, it would have solved the problem. As it is, it makes the problem worse.

This publication made a post after the said announcement trying to alert the relevant authorities that the bypass will only increase congestion at Golden Grove as it will facilitate more traffic in that direction. However, not surprisingly, our words fell on deaf ears and the great Ogle to Eccles bypass road went into full swing.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a beautiful road. It cost a lot of money and a lot of work went into it. But it serves a minimal role in decongesting traffic along the East Bank of Demerara. The first problem that should have tackled when addressing congestion along the East Bank is the public road at Golden Grove. Everyone seems to know that…except, perhaps, the Ministry of Public Works.