Senior Reporter
kay-marie.fletcher@guardian.co.tt
Speed limit adjustments have been made across several busy roadways, ramps and intersections.
Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said yesterday that motorists using the Curepe Interchange from the Valsayn Branch Road to the Southern Main Road will now have to abide by a 30-kilometre speed limit.
Speaking on CNC3’s The Morning Brew programme, however, the minister said some drivers may be pleased to hear that the speed limit has increased from 50 kilometres to 65 kilometres along other roads, including parts of the Lady Young Road, Western Main Road from Mucurapo Road to the intersection of the Western Main Road and Westland Avenue, as well as the South Trunk Road from the Cross Crossing Interchange to Dumfries Road in San Fernando.
The minister assured the public that the decision to adjust the speed limits, implemented yesterday, was not made arbitrarily but based on surveys completed by his ministry.
“In all these cases, the roads would have been upgraded, either widened, shoulders improved and several aspects of the engineering would have gone into it. So, it is not something that the minister say, ‘Well the people are calling for it, so let’s do it’. You do the surveys, the studies, you look at the engineering upgrades on the roads over time and then you consider increasing the speed limit because we do have a big concern about speed on the road and it is something that we have to manage,” he said.
He added that the TTPS is also aware of the changes and signs have been put up to notify drivers.
He added that motorists who were already abiding by the speed limits should have nothing to be worried about.
“You wouldn’t get charged for driving slow. So if you were within the speed limit before, I don’t think you have a problem because the speed limits are not reduced. They are actually increased,” Sinanan said.
He acknowledged that there is always concern when the speed limit rises, but said it is necessary to do so from time to time to maintain the flow of traffic.
However, the president of Arrive Alive Sharon Inglefield does not agree with increasing speed limits along any of the nation’s roads.
Inglefield said the roads are in poor condition and there has been an increase in collisions.
“Until we see more serious emphasis being provided by drivers on simple things like wearing seatbelts, obeying traffic signals, obeying speed limits as they exist now and therefore serious collisions, injuries and fatalities decreasing, we do not necessarily agree with increasing speed limits on the island.
“All over the world, the international standards are decreasing speed limits especially where you have high pedestrian traffic like on the Mucurapo Road and therefore, we would prefer to see that speed limits were maintained at no greater than 50 km per hour on those particular main roads,” Inglefield said.
