Senior Reporter
otto.carrington@cnc3.co.tt
After weeks of traffic congestion in Chaguanas during their refurbishment, two crucial bridges in Central Trinidad, the Bridal Road and Perseverance Bridges, were officially reopened yesterday by the Ministry of Works and Transport, just in time for the new school term on Monday.
The reopening of the bridges is expected to significantly ease the traffic congestion in Central Trinidad and along the Solomon Hochoy Highway.
Construction works on the Bridal Bridge started at the end of January and was expected to be completed in four months, but challenges were encountered. Just last month, residents protested the slow pace at which the bridge was being constructed.
Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally and Chaguanas East MP Vandana Mohit were on hand for the opening.
MP Mohit said, “This is a moment of celebration for the people of Chaguanas. This bridge is a major access point in and out of Chaguanas, and I believe everyone will breathe a sigh of relief today. There were many challenges, but I want to emphasise that I have worked closely with the officials at the Ministry of Works and Transport.”
Minutes after the Bridal Bridge was opened, Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan officially opened the Perseverance Road Bridge.
That bridge collapsed in July, causing severe traffic congestion in Chaguanas and the surrounding areas.
Minister Sinanan said, “We needed to get this bridge back up and running, and it took us just over a week to make the necessary preparations. In the future, we will need to construct a new bridge here.”
He added, “For now, we will limit the load and size of the vehicles that can pass. We’ve started with a five-ton limit, and we will monitor the situation. Based on how things progress, we may consider increasing the limit to seven and a half tons. For now, this bridge is designated for cars and small, light vehicles.
“We will also be installing some bars later this evening, and we hope to have that completed by tonight. These bars will create a height restriction, which will also help control the weight limit.”
The Minister said the ministry has challenges with some of the bridges around the country.
“We have a bridges programme where we’ve identified around 190 bridges that need to be refurbished, repaired, or, in some cases, completely replaced with new bridges of greater capacity. We have completed work on over 80 bridges so far,” Sinanan said.
The minister said his ministry has an ongoing audit of the nation’s bridges, with 15 currently under repair.
He said, “The bridges division regularly inspects bridges, identifying those in need of repair and adding them to the programme based on their level of urgency. Currently, we have 15 bridges under repair in Trinidad. Bridge repairs are costly, so it’s not feasible to address all of them simultaneously. Each year, we aim to work on at least 15 new bridges as part of the programme.”
The repair of the two bridges cost taxpayers over $10 million.