Rumble strips, safety barrels, crash barriers and fresh paint markings have been installed at the Gandhi Village Roundabout, popularly called the ‘Debe Death Roundabout’, following a series of fatal accidents over the past few years.
During a tour of the roundabout on Tuesday, Minister of Works Rohan Sinanan said the ongoing road works at that site will be completed as the Government moves to finish the Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension, which links Point Fortin to Port-of-Spain.
This, he said, will be completed by mid-next year.
But when asked why the ministry took so long to implement the safety measures at the roundabout, Sinanan said: “This is a temporary roundabout, I can’t say why it wasn’t completed in 2014/2015. What I can say is we have continuously upgraded the intersection and the intention is to continue the highway all the way down.”
Saying his heart goes out to all those who lost loved ones, Sinanan said: “What we urge the drivers to do, is to try to obey the regulations on the road. In the past, we had some accidents at this point where indications were that people were actually speeding on the roundabout or it could be that people would have dropped asleep and we had some incidents where people would have crashed straight into the barriers.”
Saying the ministry has upgraded the intersection, Sinanan explained: “We have put in the plastic drums, created a sort of an impact wall down there. We improved the lighting and repainted the area. We are putting in this morning some rumble strips.”
He said the procurement of two profile paint machines for $150,000 will save the Government money.
During the minister’s interview, one of the machines overheated and appeared to be moving uncontrollably. However, it was immediately switched off. Sinanan said the machines will benefit taxpayers.
“In the past, we actually cut the road but that was a very costly exercise because to put in that sort of rumble strip, where you’re cutting the road, you had to bring in a milling machine and they had to work the whole night. On average, that would cost us about $60,000 to $75,000 to do just one area because of the amount of equipment that had to come in,” he said.
Sinanan said the new rumble strip/profiling paint machines are used across the world.
The machines, he said, will be used in all dark spots in T&T.
However, he said citizens must also do their part to prevent accidents.
“But no matter what we put in place, there is some level of responsibility for the users of the road network because we can do as much as we can, but we cannot prevent accidents. Preventing accidents is a two-way street. We have to ensure that the infrastructure is up to standard but drivers also have a responsibility,” he added.
The Minister said there are plans to continue the highway at a later date which will eliminate the roundabout completely.
