Both the Government and the TTPS are adamant there was no need to open the northbound lane of the Uriah Butler Highway on Tuesday.
When thousands of commuters left offices in and around the Capital City on Tuesday, many didn’t get to their homes, especially those in central and south, until three or four hours later.
It was all anyone could talk about on social media.
“South people who working town reaching home midnight to leave quarter past midnight to go back to work tomorrow,” local comedian Kwame Weekes tweeted.
“A drive that usually takes 23 mins, just took me 3 hours and 45 mins,” said radio presenter Virmala Balkaran on her Facebook page. “POS to Chaguanas was a nightmare. God be with all of you who are still stuck in that traffic.”
Days of persistent rainfall culminated in the worst fears of many commuters, water on the Uriah Butler Highway’s southbound lane near Caroni.
Guardian Media’s Kalain Hosein gave an early warning on Monday night on social media when water first started creeping along the shoulder. By midday it had spread across the left and centre lanes. The TTPS stepped in to divert traffic to ensure the safety of drivers.
But that’s where the issue started. What should have been three lanes turned into two or one depending on the time; combined with the added delay caused by drivers who slowed down to gawk at the height of the river.
As traffic continued well into the night and into the early hours of Wednesday morning, two questions were asked widely on social media:
Why didn’t the authorities open the Priority Bus Route to ease eastbound traffic? And why didn’t they divert traffic onto the northbound lane of the Uriah Butler Highway.
At the 5pm joint ministerial press conference on Tuesday the announcement was made to open the Bus Route at 6pm.
“The reason why we have to use the time is 6:00 because we have to make sure the mass transportation that uses the Bus Route is allowed to leave Port of Spain,” Sinanan said.
But to open the Northbound lane, Sinanan noted, “The Police are on site. If the police decide they want to open a lane on the opposite side, then we will facilitate that but the last information I had was that the water is receding and if that happens then there’s no need for that.”
Following up the question on Wednesday, Guardian Media reached out to government officials to determine who makes the call and exactly what it would take to divert traffic onto the opposite lane.
Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Communication, Symon De Nobriga told Guardian media, “The Ministry of Works and Transport would be responsible for decisions regarding alternative traffic routes, when these situations arise. The most recent example I can think of would have been the diversion of traffic in the Cocorite Stretch to accommodate emergency repairs to a WASA Main.”
That decision is made in conjunction with the police traffic branch.
The TTPS’ official position is that there was no need to divert the traffic at the time.
“The situation was assessed earlier on by the Traffic and Highway Patrol command and one of the underpinning factors was that the left lane of the three lane carriageway which had approximately 4 inches of water or less was passable by both light vehicles and cars,” The TTPS said in a statement to Guardian Media.
“Cars would drive through deeper waters when Port of Spain is flooded. Highway carriageway diversions are considered usually when at least two lanes are compromised which did not occur yesterday[Tuesday].”
The TTPS added there were multiple factors which caused the traffic, including the flooding on the Caroni Savannah Road which serves as an alternate route for drivers, forcing drivers to access the southern main road from the lower parts of the highway. The TTPS added there was a high volume of large heavy goods vehicles at Wrightson Road, flooding at South Quay, a road traffic accident on eastbound lane of the Beetham Highway and later that evening, and then a fatal road traffic accident along the Southbound lane of the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway in the vicinity of the Brian Lara Cricket ground which caused obstruction on both the north and Southbound lanes.
By Wednesday morning the TTPS began issuing updates to reporters on the state of the highway. “Floodwaters have now crossed the all three lanes of the carriageway. Currently the centre and middle lane are passable by all classes of vehicles but the left lane is only passable by high trucks and SUVs. Drivers are implored to reduce speed proceed with caution through the area, the update said.
That update was enough for many companies to begin sending their employees home.
By the afternoon, the ODPM had taken over the updates.The last one came at 3:40PM, saying, “relative to the Caroni Flyover and Guayamare River, there is a free flow of traffic observed on all three lanes”
Following major floods on October 19, 2018, the event that caused the unprecedented Greenvale flooding, the southbound lane was completely flooded and the Ministry of Works and Transport said only high vehicles and trucks were being allowed to divert to the northbound lane, which was also flooded, until Munroe Road.
Speaking to Guardian Media yesterday former police Commissioner Gary Griffith who was commissioner at the time said he was able to use the space in the highway to divert cars onto the road. He said he coordinated with the Ministry of Works and Transport, getting support from them to provide cones and lights while using the police to direct and guide traffic.
“That allowed the traffic to flow; basically common sense. Thinking out of the box,” Griffith said.