Road work aims to tackle traffic jams
(CNS): The National Roads Authority has begun work in the Red Bay area of George Town on several different roads in a bid to tackle the mounting traffic congestion in the mornings and evenings at the bottle necks there. Work is underway to create a third lane at the Grand Harbour Roundabout, which will be constructed inside the two existing lanes to become a temporary filter lane for traffic entering the roundabout from South Sound Road, officials said.
In the longer term it will help traffic flow in both directions between the roundabout at King’s Sports Centre and the Chrissie Tomlinson Roundabout.
A new traffic pattern allowing for two full lanes of travel westbound, from Mangrove Avenue to Admirals Ave, has been implemented on Shamrock Road. This additional lane is designed to improve traffic flow for the Prospect area. A central lane has also been added to improve entry and exit to the schools in that area.
Work to expand the Red Bay Roundabout to three lanes started last week and officials said this increased capacity will help with traffic flow to and from the Eastern Districts. This work is expected to be finished in December.
Work to increase Rex Crighton Boulevard from two to four lanes is also underway to add capacity, with the aim of shortening the traffic queues that develop at this location in the morning commute. The CTMH roundabout will also be upgraded to ease the traffic volumes in the area.
Along Selkirk Drive the NRA is also upgrading the subdivision road, with paving due to take place in the first week of November.
The roadworks are happening in conjunction with various traffic diversions being managed by the RCIPS in the Grand Harbour-Red Bay areas.
Police also began closing Anton Bodden Drive to westbound traffic during the morning hours on Monday, which they will be monitoring this week for impact on traffic loads. The closure will be in place between 6am and 8am weekdays, barring traffic travelling westward along Bodden Town Road, towards George Town, from turning onto that road, allowing only local access. However, Eastbound traffic is unaffected.
Meanwhile, unrelated to the eastern commute congestion problems, the NRA has begun paving Oak Mill Street in the Windsor Park area of George Town. The work is expected to last three days and residents are asked to keep vehicles of the road shoulder to allow the heavy equipment through and for drivers to watch for traffic directions.
The NRA apologised for the inconvenience all of the work may cause and urged drivers to be alert to changes in traffic flow, adding that they would continue to alert the public to ongoing work.
For more information about the roadworks, please contact the NRA on 946-7780 or email nra@nra.ky
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Category: Local News
And I’m stuck on prospect dr again. Just stop people from driving through shamrock rd from the east!
Vote No
Good luck to the tourists on the three-lane roundabouts! Between this and the aggressive local drivers, going to be interesting.
I currently drive very defensively in roundabouts. I drive expecting the drive in the outside lane cut in front of me driving in the inside lane.
With a public transportation solution, the issue is the ‘first mile’ problem. Bus routes, now and in the future, will be down main roads. Cayman has so many nooks and crannies of small side roads that a commuter needs to get from there to a main road. People are just not going to want to walk a quarter mile to one mile to get to a bus stop.
When the police stopped idiots turning off the bypass right at Prospect Primary roundabout/CIFA and then going up through Patrick’s Island, Marina Drive etc it worked fine, that seems to have stopped since the kids went back to school in late August and now it’s impossible again for anyone who actually lives in Patrick’s Island/top of Prospect to leave. A nice automatic stinger system that pops up 6 inch nails for any car not licensed to an address in Prospect/Patrick’s Island would be a useful deterrent…
So, let me get this straight….we are widening the amount of lanes east of the Hurleys roundabout? But everyone will still have to converge at THAT roundabout????!!
Not smart Mr. Hew. I am no expert, but it would seem to me that what is needed is an alternative route that connects the eastern traffic to somewhere north of the airport.
Why not do a causeway from the Red Bay area that connects to Dart’s gazettes road north of the airport. That way all of those commuters can be removed from the traffic flow to the schools/GT.
Like I said, not an expert. But surely this is a far better idea than what is being done now.
Not possible unfortunately as the runway goes right to the edge of the water so you would have to build a road around it, which would prevent lengthening the runway into the North Sound which we will inevitably have to do. Also not possible because all the land to the southeast of the runway has been made into canals which have to be accessible from the North Sound so no building around or through those canals. Developers should never have been allowed to make canals through the thinnest part of the island. Another (truly long-term) failure of planning as it would have been obvious that this point would become a bottleneck as Cayman developed and important infrastructure would have to run through there to keep west, south and east connected.
I think the Twitter is correct. There is no reason why the causeway can’t be built a distance away from the proposed runway extension. And as far as boat traffic is concerned, columns high enough will allow the boats to cruise right under. Anything is possible.
LPH needs extending to bypass Hurleys and join the EW Arterial. Going your route is a great idea but impossible due to the airport. Unless they relocate the airport East, which IMO would be better. Keep current airport for local flights only.
Driving standards/etiquette is the real problem.
-Speeding
– Indiscriminate changing of lanes.
– Boy racers in rice rockets.
– Improper use of a roundabout.
– Entering a roundabout when traffic from the right is approaching.
– Lane hogging the right hand lane
– Lack of signalling
– Merging. If you have to cross a white line to get from lane “A” to lane “B”, you do not have right of way
– Jumping red lights
– Overtaking on the “inside” or even the hard shoulder
– Ignoring the signals of other drivers, and deliberately accelerating to prevent them from completing a lane change, especially after exiting a roundabout.
– Main beam headlights that blind oncoming traffic.
etc. etc.
So clearly the driving test is not addressing these. There should be a “P” licence (with restrictions) for 12 months after the test is passed.
Anybody who loses their licence should have to re-sit the test.
The Govt. should look at setting up a driving test track
definitely part of the problem but unfortunately we have a police farce that will not enforce the rules of the road
That’s the problem with allowing an influx of third world people in to the country. They bring their habits with them. It politically incorrect, but it’s true!
All the third world people are from here!
Wrong, idiot.
The wheels on the bus go round and round…..
The babies on the bus says “Wah, wah, wah”
All through the town
When CTMH roundabout is altered, can we please have passively activated missile systems for idiots who turn right in the left lane (obviously without even an indication to alert people to such stupidity too).
Autonomous technology is available, and the USA is only a 1 hour flight away.
Not sure on strength of missile yet, but this could be adjusted as needed. I suggest we start with something like a Javelin missile to begin, with option of a cruise missile in the future.
I was actually just suggesting something similar but I like your idea better, hands off and future-proofed. Brilliant.
joey needs to be fired! the whole of them are clueless, seriously 10 year olds can come up with better planning for the roads
Wow, let’s just throw money at stupid solutions to solve the traffic issue. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the ONLY solution is to by-pass the round about completely and find a direct route to East End that does not involve going through the Southern end of the island or going through the round about altogether but CIG does not have the balls to put the required road down anywhere near Patrick’s Island because God forbid we disturb the wealth there. Waste of time and tax payer money. Is the same person making these decisions the same person who said we needed the port?
Sounds good in theory….but everyone pull up Google Maps, satellite view, and figure out where that is feasible. With the Grand Harbour development and canals, it is NOT possible to have an entry point prior to the roundabout (going east). So once past the roundabout, there isnt a possible route that links to the east-west arterial without removing houses.
That is the issue — there isnt a solution for the Hurleys roundabout choke point.
Again, just pull up Google Maps, satellite view and try to figure this out….
Causeway from top of Hirst Road to the dump would be ideal based on google maps – something akin to the roads through the Florida Keys. Easy.
Causeway? We here ain’t never heard of no fancy “cause way”. Check us back in 50 years when we’re ready for that type of thing before I have Sheriff Bodden arrest you
Overpass.
Happy for the improvements in the Prospect area, and for the much needed resurfacing of the roads, but unfortunately, I do believe the only solution one day will be an overpass at Hurley’s roundabout!!
Absolutely!! They’ve done it near the Kaboo site going West, so we all know it’s possible.
Are you blind to the fact…this is Prospect. How much dumber is Alden going to get.
Nuff said with the headline CNS! Maybe that was your pun?
Anyway, here we go again, probably with a fart of inspiration while doodling the new plan on the back of a piece of toilet paper in the LA bathroom. All this without tackling the real issue: CARS and MORE CARS.
Who is doing the projections at NRA based on population growth and yearly import rate of new cars? The last 5 years suggests that they can’t build roads fast enough, but roads that actually work and shave time off commutes, that’s an entirely different kettle of fish.
I can have 3 cars but only drive 1 at a time. It’s more about giving out drivers licenses to people who can’t drive!
So one good car and 2 $hitboxes then?
All 3 are in wonderful shape. License paid and insured. So no.
It’s a simple solution, 1) Cut down on the number of cars on the road by increasing the licensing fees. 2) Take the money generated by those licensing fees and invest in public transportation. 3) Remove any legislative barriers that prevent innovation in the transportation industry such as ride sharing apps akin to Uber pool.
More roads are not the solution! Instead of spending money on widening the roads, it would make sense to spend it on providing reliable and full sized public transportation! And creating 3 lanes on roundabouts – most drivers don’t know how to use the 2 lanes roundabouts! Adding another lane would only cause more confusion and problems! Traffic woes won’t be solved with these roadworks and the island would be left with so many 3 lane roundabouts which most people wouldn’t use in the correct way, making them hazardous.
What a joke! Waste money and effort for nothing, I dont think they have people with brain that knows how to plan.
Traffic will remain the same, the only short term solution is to have stop lights.
To even get an idea how to fix this mess would mean finding and listening to a professional. So it will never happen here. Plan on traffic just getting worst. And the plans making even less sense. Cayman.
Way to go Joey!
Yes, thanks for nothing!
Maybe he can give us a wine recommendation and tell us what the billionaires drink on their mega yachts in Monaco. Not that we can afford it, but it’s always nice to know about the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
Shut up Twins!
Fix the damn dump Joey.
Shamrock road needs to be blocked from 7-9 from east traffic. Anyone wishing to enter red bay should do so by the following 2 roundabouts and back tracking.
And public transport? Any other solutions apart from roads?
“Building more roads is not the answer “ Joey Hew – 2019.
Hew got to be joking!
Why isn’t government saying a word about public transportation? Don’t they realize how important it is at present and for the future, when the population increases.
Family and friends board. Wouldn’t want to get cut off the Christmas lists.
No. They don’t. Besides third world bus transportation is what you get in a third world island.
yawn….pure nonsense that only has one benefit…keeping nra and pwd busy.
this will have the same effect on traffic congestion as the linford pierson expansion….absolutely nothing!
You are right. Coming from the east this morning to get to Camana Bay & the traffic was fine until after the Hurleys roundabout & then we crawled through the linford pearson dual carriage way.
Fix the road by the stables! That should have been done first. Afraid to upset Ms Mary?
The problem there is that the NRA has already drawn the road going through the stables and once they draw a road and it gets gazetted they get very upset being asked to change their designs. Widening that road is connected to the widening of Bobby Thompson Way too. So they probably don’t know how to let the stables stay and still have the type of junction they determined was needed (another roundabout no doubt, this one slightly different than the others as they all are).
The two lanes going into 1 at Admirals Landing are perhaps the biggest joke in history, same old dickheads going all the way to the end where the cones are to then cut into one lane of traffic.
If they can somehow make it two lanes all the way to the car wash roundabout, that might help. Took 15 minutes to get from McRuss to Admirals Landing this morning due to the merger back into one lane.
Yep! The blow hards who cut you off there or go straight to get into the other roundabout entrance need FINED.
Lock them up!
I ask again, how does the repaving of Selkirk Drive help with the traffic issue?
you don’t get answers to sensible questions around here….
Who flipping knows. But a through rd from marina dr all the way to Selkirk would have been a better idea.
Can you still do that from Bonnie View, through the bush to Abbey Way/Lords Way? It’s an off the beaten track run route and looks wide enough for cars!! I got from Bonnie View to Admirals Landing in a car (where Channels is being built)!! Use satellite images on google maps folks.
No