PHOTO OF THE DAY: Bumper-to-bumper rush!
As residents tried to beat the start of the territory-wide curfew which commences 1 pm daily, there was a major backup of traffic along de Castro Street in Road Town on Tuesday, September 15.
Standing from the vantage point of First Bank on Tortola, BVI News observed a motorcade of vehicles travelling from the roundabout; on to the one-way thoroughfare.
Just adjacent to de Castro Street is Waterfront Drive and the traffic heading easterly on that street was also experiencing bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Just a few months ago, de Castro Street, part of Waterfront Drive, and a number of other roadways were changed to only accept one-way traffic.
The change is part of the Ministry of Transportation’s traffic turnaround initiative to prevent vehicular congestion in the territory’s capital.
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Dear Government,
You tried something new. It didn’t work. Please have the courage to change it back. Can you begin to imagine what will happen when schools open and the cruise ship business comes back. Everything converges at the roundabout which is a disaster zone
Signed
Annoyed road user
The problem is cars coming down Government Admin Drive not giving way at the intersection Admkn Drive and the small road next to the park at CIBC. The cars block the road junction, notwithstanding the STOP signs, and prevent cars turning right onto Admin Drive and going west at the traffic lights. The blockage goes all the way down DeCastro St and to the round about in the middle of town, and then back up Waterfront Drive. We need a policeman at the junction to stop it from being blocked.
You are correct. People do not respect Stop Signs in this country. As a result, the traffic comes to a grinding halt at the intersection. There are a few other issues but I won’t get into that now. We should try to address those issues instead of “changing the traffic back” as some are suggesting. That will serve absolutely no purpose. It will be the same congestion.
I have wanted to mount a snow plow on my truck for some time. So sick of ignorant, entitled motorists refusing to stop for intersection lights, stop and yield signs. Pay attention idiots!
I’ve noticed a serious issue also. When going from Dolce ice cream shop to riteway, many motorist cut right across the dirt parking lot and further contribute to the back up and the old flow intersection. They need to cut off that exit point.
This isn’t normal traffic or even normal rush hour traffic for the BVI. This is the result of stupidity. The curfew hours remain the same for weeks so why can’t people use better judgement. This is a problem everywhere not just that particular road. The idiots pile up on Paul Wattley road as well everyday at 1:00 to and from town. The biggest and best roads will be congested if 80% of all vehicles all decide to traverse at the same time.
The better judgement needs to be used by the Government! People need to go to work, deal with their homes, do banking, pay bills, deal with businesses with 3 f***ing hours a day? The 1 pm curfew is F***RY! We never had this problem with any of the other curfews, NEVER! You would think at least one person would have f***ing common sense to know that putting a 1pm curfew with 90% of businesses open at the end of the month would result in chaos!! Put the blame where it needs to be, Government f***ed up, the curfew should have been 5pm, there’s no advantage to having a 1pm curfew, NONE!
Newsflash, Everyday many people go to work and return home before curfew and not get stuck in traffic. Why is traffic never tight at 12:15 or even 12:30? Why only when it reach 12:45 everybody decide to go home. Get with the times. Almost every bill can be paid online with a credit card.
So everybody should know where everybody else is going to drive on a particular day….please talk like you have sense.
The big roundabout needs to be turned into a mini roundabout to create more roadway. Other mini roundabouts need to be put at busy junctions. Drivers need to be taught how to use roundabouts.
Please change it back people are het hurt the sun hot the days short . We. Need to be able to move around.with more choices
The thing is everybody trying to milk every minute of the curfew. Some start to leave for home at 12:50 and expect it to have smooth sailing. Most businesses close at 12-12:30 but people enter a minute before closure.
I thought the VIP said that they made it better? Just wait until the country gets back to its glory days and then we will see all the flaws
I think the glory days are long gone
This traffic thing is because of assishess
What do you expect when you put a 7 standard student to do a Phd job!
What do you expect when you put a 7 standard student to do a Phd job!
Its a failure, ROAD Town now just a racetrack or jam up… and more dangerous for pedestrian, surprise nobody get badly injured yet.
Think the congestion had more to do with the very large hole that PWD decided to dig in the dual carriageway just past Delta at around noon today, than the new traffic system.
Odd that they haven’t mentioned this… It was clearly the route of the problem but doesn’t suit their agenda to report it.
The traffic is MUCH better than before the one way system was put in to effect – y’all forget already? sure there is build up but it flows more quickly heading west out of town. Now… heading in to town from Macnamara not so good – that is a problem that needs fine tuning and perhaps if we use both incoming lanes of the main roundabout the eastbound traffic would flow way better. And…which idiot painted a stop sign on the road as you enter the roundabout? If we don’t know how roundabouts are supposed to function then keep the painting where it belongs. Roundabouts- opposite of stopping – it’s all about keeping on moving!
traffic is not better than before.Took me 30 mn from bobby to administration drive .the two stop signs are miles away from the cross road.Then,if you want to go west end,your line is free by the lights but you stock behind cars going east.frustrating!.
Part of the problem as I see it is everyone feels the need to drive thru town.
Persons coming all the way from west end or even sea cows bay to go east end and vice versa. What happened to the ridge road?
Ridge road drops you right into Huntums Ghut, Purcell, Baughers Bay, sea Cows Bay, Brewers Bay to Apple Bay.
I think people like being in traffic jams.
The Ridge Road would be a good east-west-east alternate, were it maintained or correctly engineered. However, the Baja route is tough on the Shocks, Strutts, Springs and Wallet these days. As soon as they page, here comes BVIEC or Water and Sewer to cock it up. Dig a hole, leave a grave-sized obstacle. Why not? Who cares? No penalty. You’d be going to court anywhere else, idiots.
Enjoy the smooth roads of Road Town then.
The Traffic had absolutely nothing to do with the change of the roads so don’t blame it on that.
I saw two (2) Female Officers by Rite way Supermarket in Pasea directing traffic and that is what cause the back up traffic.
There’ had to have had other Officers on other location doing the same thing.
The two (2) weeks for the 1:00pm curfew is almost coming to an end and it never happened before until the Officers started directing the traffic.
I really don’t know whose idea this was to do that but this was a dumb a** one indeed.
Officers use your command sense and let the traffic flow on it’s own. I can understand if there’s an accident but in this case, let it flow on it’s own.
Officers, if you all have Common Sense, use it please.
The problem is more than as a result of curfew rush, this new traffic redirection does not work. It is unnecessarily complicated and potentially dangerous especially around the round a bout. It’s impossible for a new visitor to figure out right away. Please change it back!!
Bring the traffic lights back…..
I said it a hundred times before. You cannot force almost every car driving through town to go into a single roundabout, This is total madness.
Thank God there will not be any school for a long time. Ego however will not allow them to discontinue it until some one steps in just like the stoplights in the roundabout some time ago.
Cars were all the way down to Slaney.
No it is not better than before.took me 30 mn from bobby to administration drive.the stop signs has been install miles away from the junction and nobody,absolutely nody respect the stop signs. No police also around to help with the traffic.
Today’s traffic was due to work being done on the highway at the worst time ever.
It has nothing to do with the changes that were made in Road Town. Yall just hate change.
Anybody with just a tiny bit of common sense know that the traffic jam experienced today and the changes to the flow of traffic are unrelated. Why is there only traffic backup near 1pm. That’s why I laugh when ayo complain about curfew because y’all don’t act like adults. If government don’t give y’all rules to follow ayo don’t function like ayo got sense. I see people still hanging out by certain spots drinking 5 mins to 1 then they expect to jump in their ride to drive home for 1 pm taking every backroad and “shortcut” only to run into other idiots that were thinking the same way. That’s how all those traffic jams start.
Common sense isn’t common around here. Instead, everybody here just like to complain. Nothing is wrong with the traffic layout. Best thing that has happened to Road Town in decades.
This is purely the result of limited non curfew hours which has put more people out trying to do errands all at the same time. Gov needs to extend the non curfew hours, pure and simple…
I applaud them for trying something new.
Here are my two cents:
1. Admin Drive (junction by FCIB parking) should be a single carriageway to the Waterfront Dr. The road widens to three lanes as you approach the stoplights: i. The far left lane for those heading westward ONLY; ii. The middle for those heading eastward. Traffic in i & ii should be allowed to switch lanes (see #2); iii. The far-right lane for those heading eastward ONLY. The remainder of the Admin drive (junction of FCIB parking to the pier) should then be a two-way street. The two-way must start at FCIB to ease traffic and not at Banco. Persons wishing to head eastward from Banco’s direction must first enter the left lane and switch accordingly. Also, the middle and far-right lanes MUST join their respective lane on Waterfront Dr–no crossing over, you had time to think.
2. Traffic from Decastro Street should not be allowed to exit via Nibbs street (Admin Drive is less than a minute away). Traffic heading eastward on Waterfront Dr. wishing to go to Banco etc. should be allowed to do so via Nibbs street (only the right lane + persons can still access Decastro Street as it is presently).
3. Traffic flow in Upper Main Street needs to return to its original direction; however, only traffic continuing to Joe’s hill should be allowed. That is, From the SDA church to the foot of Joe’s Hill should only be used for traffic exiting Joe’s Hill. (The only exception is for heavy equipment).
4. Fleming street should then have two lanes. The right lane takes you to Joe’s hill; the left lane takes you down Main Street. However, traffic should only separate into two lanes in at Mellow Moods, allowing people time to change their minds.
5. Long Bush should be a one way. Enter by the SDA, exit via the road leading to the RT police station or behind the high school.
6. The exits point for traffic heading westward via Main Street should be by the St. George’s church and midtown. Traffic exiting by midtown should be allowed onto the Waterfront DR or continue onto the road by iSMART.
7. The road from iSMART to the Fleming street can remain; however, persons using the road by Josh Bakery must exit via Main Street. The only other exit point will be by the Fleming-street junction
LASTLY, MOVE THE CROSS-WALKS OFF CORNERS, especially by the roundabout!
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Some of what you said “might” work. But you certainly put a lot of thought into it.
Why WSD chose the rush hour to repair a broken main when those same essential workers could’ve done the repairs during the curfew??
Traffic was just as bad going West and some ignorant fool was illegal parked on the road at Infinite Solutions reducing the vehicle flow to one line.
There should be no car parking on that Road by infinite solutions. The police needs to ensure this does not happen by issuing tickets everyday.
Where is Robocop?