The
Black Carpet
Today’s
urban travellers will be taking you on a journey on the ‘Black
Carpet’. Many of you may feel a bit confused by today’s topic as
it may seem that we will be travelling on a carpet like Aladdin did.
Unfortunately, that is not the case, this Black Carpet which we speak
of is the highways of Trinidad. Many of you are familiar with how a
highway looks and have travelled via the highway. But, what is a
highway, what is its purpose? Simply put, a highway is somewhat
similar to a main road or a pathway that connects towns and cities.
In Trinidad, there are six highways. Each of the highways are located
and built to facilitate access to and from different locations.
First,
there is the Uriah Butler Highway, constructed in 1958 and initially
named The Princess Margaret Highway, is a major highway which
connects North-South bounds of Trinidad. The highway route begins
from Cham Fleur to Chaguanas and continues until it meets Sir Solomon
Hochoy Highway and crosses the Churchill Roosevelt highway in
Valsayn. After several years the highway was then renamed after one
of our Nation’s Historical icon, Tubal Uriah Butler in 1988.
Tubal
Uriah “Buzz” Butler (1897-1977)
Image
Source- www.nalis.gov.tt
Then
we have the Churchill Roosevelt Highway which connects between the
east-west of Trinidad. Built in 1941, the Churchill Roosevelt Highway
begins at Barataria in Western Trinidad and joins with the Beetham
Highway and continues through Wallerfield in the east until the
former US Army base in Fort Read. Thirdly, there is the Sir Solomon
Hochoy Highway. The Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway is a four-lane highway
which was constructed in the early 1970’s. the highway connects
from Chaguanas to San Fernando where is meets the Uriah Butler
Highway. The forth highway of Trinidad is the Beetham Highway. The
Beetham highway is known as one of the most major highways of
Trinidad, extending from Barataria and into down town Port Of Spain.
The highway was first constructed in 1955. Lastly there is the Audrey
Jeffers Highway. The highway was named after another one of our
nation’s icons who was a social worker and the first female member
of the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago. The Audrey Jeffers
Highway begins from west Port Of Spain to Cocorite and the Western
Main Road in St. James.
A
vast majority of Trinidad is dependent on automobiles, thus stemming
from the previous post, infrastructure and the management of
transport systems and routes are indeed important. If these factors
are not taken seriously it can lead to several problems such as road
accidents, traffic congestion and even pollution.
The
highway is one of the most active transport routes in Trinidad
however there have been two alarming issues faced by our citizens.
Safety
According
to the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, in the previous year, 2015 there
have been a total of 143 fatal road accidents. The highway has
claimed the lives of so many people over the past few years. The
reason for so many highway accidents stems from various factors such
as drinking and driving, distractions such as the use of cellular or
technological devices while driving, speeding, aggressive driving and
even to a greater extent weather conditions. Of all these factors,
both drinking and driving have accounted for the majority of the loss
of lives.
The issues of highway accidents have become such a grave
issue in Trinidad that many companies and other organizations such as
Arrive Alive are urging citizens to pay attention while driving and
to cease drinking while driving. These organization have even tried
reaching out to drivers on the highway with the use of billboards as
a reminder as they are on the nation’s roads. Road accidents have
always been a crucial issue in Trinidad as in previous times it has
claimed the lives of many citizens including some of our important
icons such as Onika Bostic- Soca Artist (2004) and Giselle Salandy-
Boxer (2009) and even the lives of twins, Khertima and Khadijah(
2013) and Kafiya Gill (2013) and many more. Given this, there have
been many attempts and management strategies to reduce the number of
road accidents.
Congestion
The
issue of congestion have always been a problem in Trinidad especially
on the highways. However, there have been trends in the location of
congestion on highways. Many can attest to the fact that the majority
of highway congestion occurs either between the hours of 7 A.M and 9
A M and in the evening between the hours of 3 P.M and 5 P.M. the
reason for this is due to the mobility of citizens at these hours
either going to and from work or school. Much have been done to
remedy this issue, for example, the Priority Bus Route. But,
unfortunately we are still faced with the congestion issue. Imagine
the frustration of trying to get home before it is dark or trying to
reach for an appointment and stuck in traffic. UGH!
The
video below, as you can see in the evening, traffic flow is extremely
slow and can be even worse in other areas.
Video showing evening traffic congestion on the Uriah Butler Highway
Building
more roads would not exactly solve the problem because here we have a
large group of people leaving their jobs or schools at the same time,
moving towards same destinations which are indeed a recipe for
disaster. Cites are supposed to be for citizens, not avoided by them.
Therefore, much focus should be on the planning of cities rather than
just away in which Trinidad can be developed. If we really critically
look at cities in Trinidad and the issues faced as we develop, as a
consequent result we face even more issues.
Links-
As a Geography blog, it would be great to see a map with the six highways listed! Repetitive theme of congestion.
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