Emergency meeting seeks solutions to traffic trouble
(CNS): Just a few weeks after Cayman’s students returned to school, traffic on the roads has reached some of the worst congestion levels ever experienced here, especially for drivers coming from and going to the Eastern Districts. Planning and Infrastructure Minister Joey Hew held an emergency inter-agency meeting last week to find solutions, such as staggering work times and introducing school buses for private schools.
“With the growth of communities in the Eastern Districts, increases in the number of cars on our roads and adjustment of school start times have come challenges, such as increasing traffic volumes and congestion, increasing travel times, and growing road safety issues,” Hew said as he explained why the meeting was needed.
“These [issues] are affecting the quality of life of our people and I have therefore asked the relevant stakeholders to find short and medium term solutions as we continue on track with some of our long term plans,” the minister added.
Attendees included representatives of the Ministry of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Education, the Department of Education Services, the National Roads Authority, the Portfolio of the Civil Service and the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service.
Hew said at the meeting that while various solutions are being considered, a holistic approach has to be taken to include carpooling, incentivisation of alternative transport, limits on importation of older vehicles, a comprehensive public transportation system and complete streets that will accommodate vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.
The education ministry is now planning discussions with the Private Schools Association to explore a school bus system for the more than 4,000 students at those schools, who are largely driven to and from school in cars.
Chief Officer of the Portfolio of the Civil Service Gloria McField-Nixon said that her agency aims to get public sector bosses to promote staggered start times for staff working at the Government Administration Building under the Work Hour’s policy. “We will remind managers of the 2012 policy and have them encourage wider take up of the existing offerings, including by those departments not operating from the Government Administration Building, where feasible,” she said.
The National Roads Authority (NRA) is working on more direct plans to tackle traffic congestion, such as the reversing of the travel lane capacity along Marina Drive and provisions for Prospect Drive to have two lanes westbound, which will be implemented in mid-October.
Two other projects expected to start this month are the widening of Rex Crighton Boulevard and Shamrock Road. The Rex Crighton project will involve the expansion of the existing east and west bound travel lanes between the Poindexter Road Roundabout and the Chrissie Tomlinson Roundabout, where the section of the roadway will have four lanes.
Shamrock Road will be widened into six lanes, with the initial focus on developing a westbound third lane between the Red Bay Roundabout and Grand Harbour Roundabout.
Ongoing work to ease traffic congestion already underway includes the Mango Tree Connector, Olympic Way and Island Heritage Roundabout.
Some of the long terms projects which are expected to start before the end of the year include the planned extension of the Airport Connector Road from the roundabout to the George Town landfill on the Esterley Tibbetts Highway to Sparky Drive in the North Sound area, extension of Godfrey Nixon Way and the East-West Arterial from Hirst Road to Lookout Road in Bodden Town.
Officials said that the NRA is currently in discussions with the National Conservation Council about the East-West Arterial route.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Local News
I have been reading the comments and there were a number of sincere suggestions by concerned members of the community putting forth ideas to deal with the government neglecting their infrastructure responsibilities.
We have those elected politicians and high priced civil servants asleep at the switch being paid for their beauty sleep leaving us a mess and telling us all they have done.
Have Dart fix the East End road problems.
6:30, And maybe in return CIG will approve a 50 storey building on Seven Mile Beach.
Everything has a price with Dart.
Many will agree with your assessment of the state of affairs in “leadership”, but we can absolutely accommodate 100’s of thousands of additional commuters if we had proper cycling lanes, that weren’t being used also for coconut stalls, abandoned vehicles, overtaking, ambulance cut-throughs, or overflow parking. The solution doesn’t cost very much…under a million bucks and probably less than a quarter. We already have the shoulders. Sadly, nobody smart enough to Google what other urban societies have done, and make it happen.
I wouldn’t want to run or bike in a place that doesn’t regulate emissions for vehicles. Who knows what’s in the air here.
And what air do you think you breathe in a vehicle?
If you put your a/c system on recirculate you are breathing the air of the inside of the car, not the outside. It’s there for that exact reason, to keep the pollution out. Just make sure your cabin filter is changed regularly. 🙂
Studies have shown that people in car are exposed to the greatest amount of air pollution. Here, and many other links you can google: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/in-car-pollution-equivalent-to-passively-smoking/
Not only is the study not peer reviewed but it was performed by clean air tech company Airlabs, who manufacture an in-car air purifier called airbubble and is heavily biased. The point I was making is that if you choose to recirculate the air in your car it’s much better than bringing air in from outside the car. It’s literally as easy as pushing a button, and although it won’t keep all the bad air out it’s something you should do, (especially here)
What is so amazing is that the Government has waited for this to reach crisis level before they take this seriously. Where do the leaders live that they could not see how bad the situation has been for months? How about a government funded bus service with scheduled trips and uniformed drivers who would be monitored to ensure safe driving? How about encouraging all schools to have school buses? Why oh why does every thing have to be a reactionary measure.
There is nothing you can do with:
– the number of residents
– the number of vehicles
Wider roads won’t help, monorail in a country that only managed to have kimikaze-mini buses is a fantasy, flexi time won’t work, restrictions on import won’t work, restriction on ownership won’t work.
What will work? A hurricane that destroys all existing structures giving you opportunity to start anew with Master Ground Transportation plan as 7:44 pm had mentioned.
Meantime, at least start exploring how to implement Public Bus transit system. So far not a peep from your government on this subject.
Overpasses is the second thing that can be done NOW.
It’s time for Johnny come lately to go home, plain and simple! Reduce our population solve all the problems remember the ppm first mottos Good Gowernunce Transparency Sustainability wha happen To that It’s time Cayman to take back our little islands front the brink! Look at what is happening in those islands after Hurricane Dorian and even Ivan here. Stop listening to these extremely foolish population expansion dreams being preach by our idiotic political parasites and there more means better stupid ideology which is destroying everything. Never heard more stupidness in my life look at these people now making decision for us in Cayman??
Silly comment. How do you reduce population, theoretically and practically?
The dump is working that magic for us. It’s a slow process but it’s happening….
Calm down hitler
That’s it everybody get a HORSE NOW!!!!
it seems like every one is asking for their own road!
Back in the early seventies the UK initiated a Master Ground Transportation plan that designated road corridors all round the island designed to avoid all the problems we have now. The concept was that no development be allowed along these corridors so that arterial roads could be completed as needed. A succession of Caymanian Governments did absolutely nothing as forward planning has never been on the agenda in this country. Now we are all paying for this inertia.
the best comment.
I don’t remember it that way. (A) it was the late 1980s, (B) The government of the day DID kill the Master Ground Transportation Plan (MGTP) – But lets agree to disagree on the fine points 🙂
https://www.caymanroads.com/index.php?option=com_deeppockets&task=catShow&id=104&Itemid=26
Didn’t they kill it because the whole thing back then was going to cost us something like 25 million.
You are referring to a rehash by the NRA (Not Required to Act). I can assure you the MGT was completed in the early seventies (I was here then), but filed away by successive governments. What your reference does is to confirm it had never been Gazetted as the implementation of this plan would have required some degree of effort and fund raising from our politicians who follow the dictum “leave it to the next lot”.
Ideally nothing should have been built on a see side of West Bay road. Example: Waikiki..
a prober bus system and anyone on work permits cant drive a car! simple
Perhaps education should be the first priority here
Congratulations on the new fresh he’ll you have created at the end of the runway.
That little round about is an absolute joke, the only thing with it that is worse was that cut through from Shedden Road via Printer’s way. So we’re going to hold up a traffic flow for those wishing not to follow Shedden Road around Mango Tree BACK to the roundabout they are cutting through to which causes a back up to the 4 way by Beatman’s service station. I would say the lunatics are in control but that is an insult to lunatics and do not get me started about the merging area of the two lanes at the end of the airport. IF NRA had ANY sense whatsoever they would have put down those road dividers from one roundabout to another and make the lane skirting the airport a lane that takes you to Crew Road.
Used the new roundabout yesterday from the Industrial Park / FFF side. Free flowing traffic surprisingly. So I’ll withhold judgement on it a bit longer as people sort out how best to use it.
Not between 4:45 and 6:45pm you didn’t. Wendy should get on her bike and go check out that shit show.
1 car per household
Let us look at how Bermuda sought to deal with this problem. One car per dwelling unit and any amount of scooters.
The number of traffic accidents in Bermuda is 2-3 times of that in Cayman. That is why I left it.
How about have high-capacity vehicle lanes only (where the roads have multiple lanes)? That would encourage bus use and car pooling (no less than 2 people per car).
More like they leave at 3pm to pick up their kids. And there’s the ones that ride around all day in a Gov’t vehicle tending to their side business. At least on Mondays and Fridays we get a slight reprieve since many CIG workers don’t regard these as compulsory work days.
that is just wonderful. Communism! Like in Cuba!
Folks, a simple solution: Raise custom duties on imported vehicles, gasoline cost, and cost for car parts. 😏 I know it sounds cruel. And secondly, implement an all-island, around-the-clock, comfortable transport system like shuttle, bus, or subway system, etc …
YOUR PROBLEM SOLVE 👍🏼
Everyone will use it because it is affordable. You won’t have 5 cars anymore per 1 family.
And you thought crime was bad now…
lol.
Isnt that like communist
You don”t have to increase cost. Just provide perks and lucky seat numbers on the buses, a reward system $$$, and I guarantee you, everyone will be using the buses or shuttles :))
And who will this idea hit the most? The poor people. The rich will still have their 4 cars for the dad, one for the wife, the nanny, the Gardner, the personal chef and one for just because.
You missed the spoiled brats
Emmmmm…….that is 6 cars.
Widening sections of roads will not work when the roads ultimately join single lane roads into town . This strategy has resulted in traffic bottle necking closer to town.
The traffic problem is dynamic and until there is a moratorium on the number of cars being imported, the updating of roads will be ineffective . In the time it takes to upgrade the roads many more cars will be imported to fill the extra lanes provided.
The government needs to stop looking for solutions that will address the problems in the short term. They need to address the root cause of the problem with strategies that limit the number of vehicles on island, develop efficient public transport and encourage flexible work schedules. The current strategy to widen and build roads is finite and can not be the long term solution .
We need to make riding a bike, as easy as riding a bike.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOaVUIC-IC4
Move some services and offices out of town. Unless companies need to be near the court house why do they need to be in town?. Send services east and west, decentralize George Town. All traffic is going in the same direction because everything g is in the same place, come on Joey it’s not rocket science. Bus service!!! How loud do people have to shout about it and for how long until you listen, stop pretending to do something. Yet another…how do we solve this….issue, like the dump and the education system. Band aids are only temporary.
I for one rather a line of cars in front of me than a line of Buses!
At least the buses would be a shorter line
M are you saying move services out of town then use a helicopter to reach them!
?? Err noooo, not helicopters. Buses!!!! You know those large potentially electric vehicles (no fumes) that can hold a large amount of people at once, with a driver, so you can use your journey reading a book perhaps?
As for sitting behind a line of buses instead of cars…really?? if a bus holds around 20 persons and those 20 persons were in front of you in their cars, wouldn’t you be much further away from your destination and therefore it would take longer??? You would prefer this?? (scratches head).
Why complain about traffic but not want to do anything about it? (hold hands up and shakes head)
It took me 40 minutes in my car, from the CNB roundabout to the Kings Gym roundabout on Tuesday evening, leaving work at 5. I would love to be able to get on an air conditioned bus that arrives at a time determined by a well planned timetable/schedule, drive on a designated bus lane and be at the Kings Gym round about in 10 minutes instead. Is it just me?
In large cities, well planned public transport systems, are used by rich and poor, large and small, from all backgrounds. They use it because it is the most efficient mode of transport. It also gets us off our butts and (god forbid) walk a few yards (hopefully on well planned sidewalks with shady trees), exercise we could all do with to stave off those extra pounds and impending heart conditions.
We need action now, lets stop talking about it and do something. Maybe Austin Harris (acting Premier) will do something (my little joke for the day).
Enjoy your day everyone, keep smiling and thinking positive.
everybody has been crying for reliable public transportation for a long time now.
The existing north-south and east-west highways need dedicated cycle lanes that are separated from vehicular traffic by pre-fab rubber humps. These cost about $10k per mile on Alibaba. For somewhere around $200k, we’d suddenly have safe corridors that cycling commuters and students could use without fear of certain death. They wouldn’t even need helmets. Wouldn’t that be nice?
And maybe a street light or two
Can we have a dedicated lane too?
Drunk drivers already weave across the both lanes and the shoulder – often hitting stationary utility poles. At least with cycling humps, they will not die hitting a telephone pole, and hopefully overturn and not endanger anyone else.
I recently rode segregated cycle paths in another urban center and it was an absolute joy. Agree that we need to physically separate the traffic from cyclists with a barrier of some kind. It cannot continue to be a multipurpose vehicle breakdown shoulder, overflow parking, cycle lane, and unlit pedestrian walkway. Pick one thing and do it properly. Let the bike community spearhead the effort.
The NRA should be Googling…”Bicycle Lane Channelizer”, “Plastic Road Buoys”, “Zebra Bumps”, and “Cycling Delineators”…how can they not know these things exist?
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Traffic-Separators-for-Cycle-Tracks-Protected_60497030049.html?spm=a2700.9114905.0.0.vWQs7w
That would mean research and work!
Don’t we already have cycling/triathlon associations? Where are they? Why aren’t they part of the advocacy?
Biggest problem is Bobby Thompson Way and the section of Linford Pierson Hway to the Jose roundabout. Needs two lanes each way…
Also, sort out import duty on motorbikes. It should be no more than 10% for 125cc to 600cc, with licensing similarly fixed. We don’t need crappy 50cc things that can’t keep up with traffic flow.
…you can already buy a duty-free emotorcycle with linear torque curve that can keep up without any combustion.
Which is illegal to use on public roads.
good suggestions 10:52 and since the port is going to be built perfect solution for the tenders… they can be utilized in a water ferry system for commuters during the peak traffic hours
Cayman needs a rail train, not like we have hundreds of miles that needs to be transported. (Put it above the road)?
What fantasy world do you live in? I prefer flying saucers.
Actually this is a good idea. Think of the rail system in Miami airport. Automated, runs on a schedule, predictable, and can transfer many people. It doesn’t have to be above the roads. You can create three loops with hubs/transfer stations, and have it go above grasspieces (I’m specifically thinking above the median area of the Linford Pierson bypass to use an example, or out East along the main road). Imagine knowing that your “ride” to town leaves at 6:18am, and it gets to town at 6:49am. Imagine the reduction in cars if ONE of those 3-car trains seated 25 people. Kids could become more independent and not have to rely on the busses….flying saucers would require airspace approval!
Get people a reliable public transport system and stop bringing in more people than the country can handle. Obviously this government doesn’t give 2 cents about what people are going through with this traffic! Vote them OUT!
If they didn’t care, They would not of had an emergency meeting smarty pants.
LOL!
6 lanes from Red Bay to Kings. They are literally choosing to widen the only stretch that currently flows freely. Smh. I honestly can’t stand watching these decisions get made.
Solution for rush hour traffic at Grand Harbour roundabout:
Between 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm, traffic coming from the east on Shamrock Road is diverted to South Sound. They can then continue along South Sound Road unhindered to the George Town area, or take Old Crewe Road behind the Baptist church and school if they want to get onto Crewe Road or get to Grand Harbour. This will give traffic waiting at the Grand Harbour roundabout, freedom to flow smoothly toward the east. I would also change the timing of the stop light at South Sound to 1 minute delays so that the main lanes of traffic from George Town can flow more freely. Too many people take South Sound Road which then compounds the delays at the roundabout. Yesterday traffic on South Sound Road was backed up to the South Sound dock and it was probably a 1/2 hour wait from that point. Drivers should continue to be discouraged from using South Sound Road during evening rush hour.
The Hurleys roundabout is not working with the volume of traffic. Traffic lights at all lanes are the only workable solution that does not involve a flyover.
11:29 if the people cant use S.Sound Rd. which road you would suggest!
9:22pm: If traffic was able to flow unhindered from Linford Pierson/Crewe Road through the Grand Harbour roundabout at afternoon/evening rush hour, there would be no need for so many drivers to attempt to jump the line by using South Sound Road.
8:29 I don’t think you get the point SS road is a thoroughfare route, those people has as much rights as any other road.
11:07am: The only “thoroughfare route” is the one with 2 lanes crossing the Lion’s Center. Using South Sound during rush hour is simply an attempt to bypass those 2 traffic lanes. Now that the newly installed control light at the end of SS is backing up that traffic more than it already was backed up, maybe those drivers will start to use the “thoroughfare route” crossing the Lion’s Center. That way, everyone will get through the roundabout faster.
People that work at Maples etc use south sound because you turn left and your right on south sound already. Must we really go the next way to go through the 4-way, wait at the smith road stoplight etc ?
People need to stop using old crewe road to get onto south sound, because that is holding south sound up tremendously along with the new light. They may have fixed one side (Maybe??) But made the next side worse!
9:21am: I’m suggesting that drivers on South Sound Road should turn left before reaching the new stop light and join traffic at the roundabout just before the Lion’s Center. That way they don’t slow the 2 lanes of traffic crossing the Lion’s Center and entering the Grand Harbour roundabout. I agree with you that drivers should not be able to use old Crewe Road to join the South Sound traffic just before the new stop light. Those drivers absolutely compound the problem.
the simple truth is that there are more people and more cars than our roads can handle. You can push that equation as far as you like but its not solving the problem to just build/widen more roads. The islands needs a comprehensive public transport system. You need buses that run on set schedules with actual bus stops that they do not deviate from and the buses must be of a size and standard that can adequately handle the loads they will carry.
Our waters are also under utilized, a hub based ferry service in the north sound and western sides of the islands operating on set schedules with STCW trained operators in conjunction with a bus system will dramatically reduce the congestion on Island.
All the government is doing is spending money to kick the can down the road.
I think comments like these have been written on here for years now, but our nicely paid politicians don’t seem to get it
Because only Caymanians have a voice – but they refuse to protest for some reason?
Yet immigration continues to grant more and more work permits for the $$$$$$. I leave home at 6:30am from Northward Road and still the traffic is disgusting.
I wonder what George Town will be like when the “mega” cruise ships are docked should the port be built.
We could handle another 100,000 if there were proper bike lanes, as discussed and approved in the NRA 2015-2020 strategic plan. Shouldn’t we be asking where that budgeted funding went?
get rid of joey’s sidewalk and widen roads…such a waste of money!!!
And his crossings everywhere!
Build more roads, import more cars, rinse and repeat. Where does this end? No plan, no vision, no sense. Joey, you are purely reactionary as have been your predecessors, wake up, don’t be like the rest asleep at the wheel.
Now is your time Joey, solve this one and most will no longer be wondering “Who” you are.
Hint, ditch the Cruise Port and put the damn money into a public transit system everyone will want to ride on. It’s not a sexy as a new port but just might get you majority vote next election. Let’s see how strong your spine is.
You are correct. Widening roads does not ease congestion. That is why Los Angeles is the way it is.
Take a loo at Bermuda, they do not widen their.road, they have a great bus system and expats/permit holders are not allowed to have vehicles.
Stop adding lanes and leaving nowhere to come off the side or to walk.
Having a 4 way feeding into a 1 way is not helping, just cause bottleneck.
Bermuda has its own traffic issues. Trust me,you don’t want so many scooters on your roads as they have in Bermuda.
Bermuda doesn’t restrict expats.
The Cro Magnons don’t use indicators, and it’s not really priority in a driving test here. Knowing right from left is a first step, after learning that just maybe they can grasp the concept of right of way. Remember the Flintstones, did Fred and Barney use indicators?
Hopefully everyone remembers this mess of traffic when they go to the election polls, I will.
Dedicated bike paths 10ft off the road, buses that run on time, staggered work hours, car sharing parking lots.
Will you drive individually or carpool or take the bus to get to the polls? We made the problem ourselves. This issue has been coming for 20+ years. At least someone is now trying to do something. Remember not to moan when you have to pay for on-street parking or pay more to license a vehicle to pay for the road improvements you demand.
I think the real problem is that y’all are not used to progress yet!