NRA makes U-turn on roundabout restriction
(CNS): The National Roads Authority has made a U-turn on the decision to impose a left-turn-only restriction on drivers leaving Grand Harbour at the northern exit of the Hurley’s roundabout. In a press release Friday, the authority’s board announced that, in agreement with the minister responsible for roads, a re-assessment of all available options would be undertaken.
The news comes just over two weeks after a public meeting in Red Bay hosted by the constituency MP, Sir Alden McLaughlin, where the public gave a resounding thumbs down for the plan. The former premier and member of the Progressives led the charge to stop the proposal after residents said it would just make a bad situation even worse.
Following the news of the decision to put the plans on hold, McLaughlin told CNS that he gave credit to Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks for listening, as the idea to restrict the exit had come from the board chair, who did not turn up to the meeting, leaving NRA Director Edward Howard and the minister to take the fire from the public.
“It’s a good result but it is only a short-term fix,” McLaughlin said. “A longer-term solution has to be found,” he added referring to the traffic congestion and chaos at times in the area.
The former premier said he was disappointed that the government was not pursuing the rollout of a mandatory policy for private school buses because it was obvious from the decrease in traffic during school holidays that it would be one of the simplest ways to make a significant difference.
“Traffic eases immensely during school break and it’s an easy fix,” he said, adding that the decision to focus on car imports was likely to have little to no effect, as it will not reduce the number of cars on the road.
“Until we have a decent public transport system we will be travelling the same road, as the population trend has never been one of decline,” he said. Decreases in the population in the wake of Hurricane Ivan and during the pandemic were quickly followed by a surge in new residents, he noted.
McLaughlin said he was aware that his proposal for private school buses would be controversial, as the parents were objecting, but there comes a time when government must consider the greater good.
In the release about the decision to reconsider the roundabout exit restriction, the NRA board thanked the public for feedback on the proposal and said that they and the minister had agreed to “a complete re-assessment of all available options to improve safety and reduce congestion outlined in a recently conducted traffic study of this area”.
The board hopes the Edgewater connector will be completed during this process, the release said. “This review and analysis will ensure the optimal course of action is taken for the entire road corridor from the CUC Roundabout to the Red Bay Roundabout, with safety and congestion concerns at the forefront.”
“This review and analysis will ensure the optimal course of action is taken for the entire road corridor from the CUC Roundabout to the Red Bay Roundabout, with safety and congestion concerns at the forefront,” they stated.
“We strongly advise the public to exercise utmost vigilance while navigating the Century 21 roundabout,” the board said, and despite cancelling the traffic restriction, nevertheless recommended that drivers adhere to its guidelines.
The board still advises motorists heading to South Sound or George Town after leaving Grand Harbour during peak congestion periods to turn left and travel down to the Red Bay Roundabout to make the turn there, back towards George Town. “We are confident that this is the safest route available,” the release said.
The NRA board said that the review would still be based on a recent traffic study of the area which has still not been made public. CNS has made an FOI request for the report but we have still not yet received a response.
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How bad does it need to get before we really start prioritizing education reform? It’s the root of alot, if not all of the problems that cayman is facing. What we are witnessing is the lack of quality education manifesting itself in the people we elect, the way roads are designed, the way our healthcare system functions and on and on and on. The only fix is to get smarter and until that is addressed all of these other problems are just going to keep piling up while someone, damn near anyone with a little resources and awareness, profits off of our perpetual can kicking.
Hows the dump looking?
Only in Cayman do we govern based on “crabs in a bucket”, there is no plan for anything:
– no tourism plan
– no development plan
– no roads/transport plan
– no waste management plan
– no education/training/jobs plan
How is Vision 2008 coming along?
no-plan-pact.
Vision 2008. No plan PACT? What about all the previous governments.? What about NO Caymanian politicians with the understanding, intelligence or frankly courage to tackle the issues. We elect populist s with little intelligence whose only focus is personal advantage and re election and this is what we get.
There is broad agreement that a combination of measures to reduce/slow traffic growth and provide more people moving capacity are required. Buses for private schools will have limited impact unless there is a similar program for teachers.
Sorry, are you saying you want teachers to also take the bus?
So, what kind of consultation was done by NRA before they decided to make it “No right turn”?
Just have a non-biased traffic engineer stand and watch the roundabout for one day from 700am until 700pm.
They will see it is a dangerous roundabout made even more so by those having to dive bomb across threw lanes to turn right.
I would think there’s far more people entering the roundabout coming from Kings objecting to having to brake heavily when finding a car parked across the roundabout lane exiting from Hurleys because the idiots pull out and stop with nowhere to go when its busy., – but you best Alden, just like you did with the cruise referendum
The only solution is to tear out this abomination of a roundabout and put in traffic lights.
Oh no it’s not!
Or have traffic lights on the existing roundabout
These NRA people are jokers. They should have assessed all available options before reaching the initial decision to implement the roundabout restriction. What we need at the NRA is competent leadership that will stop wasting time and money on half-baked ideas.
so what happens when someone gets killed trying to navigate from hurleys across that roundabout???
you were either wrong to begin with or you are wrong now. welcome to wonderland
Maybe then they’ll learn how to drive.
ha…spineless fools….
heads should roll for this debacle…
So, Alden thinks PACT should make the decision to mandate private school buses, because this is for the greater traffic good.
But when the NRA make a move for the greater traffic good, which was eliminating the right turn at the Hurleys roundabout, Alden leads the charge against it.
What a real cowhead he is. Like the good man once said, there is no interest like self interest!
And, if Alden really thought the mandatory private school buses were the right thing to do, why didnt he, as Premier for the last 8 years before PACT got in, put that in place with his PPM-led Govts??
He was probably too busy trying to keep McKeeva happy as Speaker.
….NEXT!!!
Sir Alden still the boss. BTW . Has NRA found a chairman for their board? Asking for a friend”.
A vehicular overpass is now and shall remain the only viable solution in the medium to long term.
What is vitally necessary, particularly as it pertains to this major choke point, is a system of road works which allows for the free flow of the influx of vehicular traffic coming from the East in the morning hours and/or coming from the West in the afternoon/evening hours.
It is time long past overdue for this solution to be implemented forthwith.
It is time long past overdue for the relevant authorities and/or governmental administration/s to accept this reality and move forward proactively to implement said vehicular overpass.
The Cayman of today demands it.
Regardless of the possible, and direly needed, implementation of a viable, practical, affordable and efficient public transportation system in Grand Cayman, the necessity for a vehicular overpass remains.
Regardless of the implementation of safer, in some cases more practical and/or environmentally friendly modes of transportation of variable description, nothing is going to change the reality that a vehicular overpass is necessary at this choke point.
The burgeoning realities at hand demand as such. Moreover, any objective individual, regardless of one’s perspective and/or political or various lobbyist’s leanings who are currently at war with each other for either power and/or influence over decision making processes, should at this point be able to see said reality clearly.
Yes, there is the reality that the same solution will be necessary at other locations.
Yes, there is the reality that the other factors which contribute to Grand Cayman’s traffic woes and compounded inefficiencies can be tackled with a solution-oriented approach, as they need to be and should well be.
Regardless of whether it be rooted in greed induced tendencies, incompetencies, unproductive prejudices of one kind or another and/or any other reasoning incompatible with achieving the necessary solutions, the realities at hand remain, and will only become more acute detrimental to Cayman in its and our collective entirety as time passes.
A vehicular overpass is the solution.
Get it done.
Wrong.
How do you make private school buses mandatory? Are parents going to be preventing from driving their kids to/from school?
And how do you handle the “first mile”, from the home to a main road?
You don’t.
How do you make private school buses mandatory? By making the necessary regulations. All public schools bus their students and have been doing so fir decades.
You think every public school child get there by bus? You probably think all their school fees used to get paid too.
The same way they regulate private pensions to a max of $1000 per month of YOUR money no matter if you have a million dollars in it.
Hey, they dabble with private pensions, private businesses and everything else, nothing surprises me any more they seem quite content overstepping the line every time.
that would be achieved by walking,you know like in the real world.that way your children wouldnt be such disgustingly obease people as they are now.nowhere else on this planet is being fat held as a positive thing to be.
Walking would be great if they could cross the Hurleys roundabout, only in cayman do we build pavements for with no crossings to the shops.
Every major development that potentially has retail and is nearby residential property should be REQUIRED by planning to build a pedestrian overpass so all can walk over the busy roads without fear of dying.
More likely their MLA rolling models
Walking is very healthy, we have moderate climate and most roads for the first mile are quiet so its not even dangerous.
Where is the $200,000 Deloitte public transportation study that was announced in November? Why is taking so long or is this report just going to be buried and not released?
Most likely gathering dust in the glass house
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
one of the few times the voice of the people were heard. Now if they would only listen the people are saying the problem is not too many cars its too many drivers.
That’s good cause I was just gonna turn right anyway, even if that meant I didn’t go round the roundabout to do so.
Good headline CNS!
In all seriousness NRA Eddie said he would get us the data as to why this was to take place. We still haven’t seen any.
I’m guessing one of the following.
1) There is no data
2) The data is garbage
3) The data doesn’t fit the narrative they were trying to push
Why not give the proposal a try for a few months over the summer? Actually see what the results are.
why not actually enforce the traffic law and ticket everyone that uses a roundabout incorrectly. easy money for the rcips.
Idiots. The lot of them.
Meaningless results while school is out, which was their plan in the first place.
You mean during the school holidays when we all reach work/home in half the time?
so thousands of commuters are suffering because a few people from red bay complain ?
You realise that it had nothing – nothing – to do with speeding up the Eastern commute? In fact, it would simply shift the problem to Red Bay. It was all supposedly a safety issue with people entering from Grand Harbor apparently unable to navigate around the roundabout to head into George Town without stop[ping in the roundabout to change lanes. Traffic lights set to maximise the East Wets flow during rush hour would solve the problem, as would drivers being able to use roundabouts properly. But the latter is a pipedream in Cayman where we seem unable to even use indicators, and the NRA seems to have an obsession with roundabouts. That will kill off the idea of a flyover as well (unless Jay realises that’s a major construction procurement with all the opportunities that provides lol). So we go for the default Cayman solution – head in sand and hope the problem goes away.
The issue is anyone having to go down to the next roundabout to go back up towards GT has priority over people coming in from Savannah so one way or another the traffic might flow more freely at Hurleys BUT will have had to slow down at the previous roundabout..completely moot exercise..
Also:cars coming FROM GT are currently having to slow down a bit(not enough in most cases!) but if they know no one will be attempting to enter and go across then boy racers/dumper trucks/taxis and anyone who has no clue about road safety will be FLYING across that roundabout forgetting cars will be still having to tune in the left lane and then attempt to go across 2 lanes to go back up..
It think THIS is more dangerous.
Another case of the politicians, and appointed Board Chair, not having the brass balls to implement policies and projects that are “for the good of the majority.”
There must have been some kind of engineering analysis that prompted the decision to make the change. But when it got too hot in the kitchen they bailed out.
1 step forward. 2 steps back.
🧨
Sir Alden to the rescue, elections coming up so he shows his face in Red Bay. Once he gets back in power he will be gone again.
Coward board Chair. How much he paid? Who is he?
Other board members all yes men morons no cojones.
Build the damn connector stop blaming CUC. Seen no NRA crew there for months.
I don’t think the Chairman is a coward, nor is he a dictator! These was a decisions made by the entire Board. He gets paid $150.00 per 5 Hr. meeting like every other Board member. If you want to know who he is, why don’t YOU post your name and number? Maybe he will call and educate YOU with the FACTS! You are also worng in regard to CUC, because CUC is one of the reasons why the Edgewater connector has not been built yet.
Lol Alden still running rings around Weenie
According to SIR Alden, “the idea to restrict the exit had come from the board chair, who did not turn up to the meeting, leaving NRA Director Edward Howard and the minister to take the fire from the public”.
According to the NRA website, “In accordance with Section 7 (4) of the National Roads Authority Law (2006 Revision), the Governor-in-Cabinet has appointed the following persons to the National Roads Authority, who shall hold office from 2 July 2021 until 2 July 2024:
Chairman
Mr. Stanley Panton Deputy Chairman
Mr. Paul Andrew Bodden Jr (Andy) Director
Mr. Kelvin Dixon Director
Ms. Heidi Hunte-Webster Director
Mr. Dane Walton Director
Mr. Peter Campbell Director
Mr. Domnique Williams Director
Ms. Decia Foster Director
Chief Officer or Designate Director
Financial Secretary or Designate Ex-Officio
The NRA Board does not have a Chair SIR Alden. CNS reported seven, yes 7, months ago that Mr Gilbert McLean who had been appointed Chairman had resigned.
Why didn’t you challenge the Minister for leaving the Chair position vacant for over seven months?
Because no one easier to blame than Mr. Nobody. 🙂
I completely agree with Sir Alden McLaughlin’s concerns here, and his suggestions – especially as mandatory school buses for all students. I commend his prompt lead. Thanks also to Minister Ebanks and The acting NRA chairman for listening and also responding promptly.
We need either an overpass of such congested intersections or an elevated road, on pilings, running along the North Sound with exits.
Why not mandatory busses for all CIG employees first?
They be half empty every day.
If people would use their f***in indicators it would reduce the amount of mind reading needed to pull out and keep things flowing. You going from South Sound and heading east? use your indicators. Heading across to Harbour Walk and Grand Harbour? use your indicators.
Wha dey is, wheh dey is?
The private school parents need to get onboard with the mandatory school bus. Continuing to coddle and raise such entitled brats is NOT going to bode well for anyone’s future, including their own kids.
I’ll continue to drop my kids to school on my way to work but thanks for the suggestion. You do you.
Exactly…how do school buses help traffic when most parents dropping kids off at school still need to get to work in Georgetown or Camana Bay?
Because parents could stagger the time you go into work more easily. Children have to be in school for a precise time but many parents could start sometime between 7 and 10 am, therefore spreading the number of journeys across a longer time period and reducing the congestion at peak times.
You must have a unicorn job that actually allows you to have flexible hours. Good for you. The rest of us must be at work from 8-5.
try tell my boss that. I need my job.
And how am I supposed to feed my kids when I get fired for not being at my desk working by 8 am? Because my boss ain’t having none of that.
You either don’t have kids or have a massive chip on your shoulder.
I’m a hard working Caymanian who’s daughters go to private school as I’m determined to give them the best opportunity, and John Grey certainly isn’t it. The good ‘non-private’ students have to go on to private school anyway in the last two years with government assistance.
Get over yourself and suggest something positive.
Has NRA paid any compensation yet to the landowners effected by this scheme…it’s been 3 years since the gazette. I assume a FOI is required?
Interesting who is the board chair? .. I did not think anyone wanted that job. So looking to blame someone else. It’s time Howard resigned! The incompetence of the NRA does not surprise me.
Everything they are doing to the roundabouts is making them less and less of a roundabout, so why eliminate some of these dam roundabouts, Especially they hurleys one.
another private sector board.
It’s remarkable that the Transportation Ministry can nearly instantaneously affect their knee-jerk import restrictions to third party vendors like Beforward.Jp, but DOT can’t make the phone call to convince American Airlines that this isn’t “the Grand Cayman Islands”, or that paper immigration and customs forms aren’t necessary. Too good at the wrong things.
‘Enjoy your stay in The Grand Cayman Islands’.
You can feel the locals on the flight cringing when you hear it.
But has been going on like this for decades now.
And who was this board chair?
Ricky Bobby?
Magic 8 ball says Mr. Alric Lindsay.
No he saw the incompetences within NRA so wanted out, so did Gilbert.
Alric Lindsay resigned as Chairman.