‘Pedestrian friendly capital’ promised in Road Town

A comprehensive traffic study is in the works with an eye toward easing congestion and turning Road Town into a “pedestrian friendly capital,” Transportation, Works and Utilities Minister Kye Rymer announced last Thursday in the House of Assembly.

Besides his ministry, he said, the study will include input from the police, the Town and Country Planning Department, the Public Works Department and Dr. Drexel Glasgow. It will also employ traffic counters that will be used to gather data on the number of vehicles in the capital during peak hours, he explained.

“This study will aid us by taking the ‘guesswork’ out of our traffic management and planning as we look towards the short-, medium- and long-term development programme,” Mr. Rymer said.

The study, he explained, will seek measures designed to facilitate traffic flows during peak hours.

“Already, we have identified some issues that can be addressed for low- or no-cost, which will bring relief to the motoring public while the broader strategy is being put in place,” he said.

Needed solutions, he said, include changing the direction of traffic in some areas; better “[outlining] the movement of vehicles in and out of parking lots;” and reducing the need for driving in the capital.

“On the low- and no-cost side of things, one creative option being worked on by my team at the MTWU is the creation of a one-directional loop from Bobby’s corner down DeCastro Street, through Nibbs Street and back up Waterfront Drive,” he said. “This simple strategy will dramatically improve traffic flows in the immediate term.”

He added that a fee system would be implemented for parking in central Road Town, but that “formalised parking” would be free at the Festival Village Grounds and from the Road Town ferry terminal to the Queen Elizabeth II Park. A shuttle service, he said, will loop around the capital.

“I will be hosting another stakeholders/public meeting to demonstrate the changes proposed, the impact we expect the changes to have, and give timelines of when we will affect the transformation,” he said.