– private engineerThough touted as one of the most progressive housing establishments,Cheap Jerseys Online, commute in and out of the Diamond Housing Scheme continues to be extremely time consuming and sometimes chaotic during the peak hours. One private engineer has blamed this on poor infrastructural planning.The housing scheme is situated just about 15 minutes away from Georgetown but during the peak hours,Cheap Jerseys NFL China, commuters take an hour or more to reach the City. Though,Wholesale Jerseys, this may be compounded by bottle necks on the East Bank Demerara Public Road, of that time, about 30 minutes are spent waiting in line to exit the scheme.This sometimes becomes disorderly when vehicles tightly fitted on the entrance bridges of the housing scheme compete for limited space.According to the engineer, the Ministries of Housing and Public Works usually use different specifications to erect roads and bridges. He suggested that since the Diamond Housing Scheme falls under the Housing Ministry it probably used its specifications to build a main entrance road intended to transport heavy-duty equipment.Vehicles traversing the narrow bridgeThe engineer noted that the planners should have anticipated the massive development ahead, and cutting developmental cost should not have been a factor for such a thoroughfare. He noted that roads developed by the Ministry of Housing are usually 16-feet wide with one-lane measuring 8-feet.Speaking specifically about the Diamond Housing Scheme entrance bridges, the engineer said, “The alignment of the road/ bridges is inappropriate. The width of one truck is about 7-feet or 8-feet thus occupying the entire lane. This puts the vehicle in the other lane in a tight spot. This is generally the case at the entrance of Diamond. It is also cumbersome when trucks have to turn in and out of the scheme”.The engineer opined that the bridges, and by extension the road, should have been built 22-feet wide with one-lane measuring 11-feet. In addition, the structure should have pedestrian walkways on either side of the road,Cheap Jerseys From China, each measuring 3-feet wide.Although the scheme was established in the late 1990s,Jerseys Wholesale, it was not until 2010 when occupancy was over 40,000 residents, that traffic signals were installed to supposedly ease congestion. That $15M project also saw road-widening works, installation of pavements, and construction of four foot-bridges.However, the traffic signals failed to reduce congestion since the majority of the traffic flows north (heading to Georgetown) during the mornings. Traffic ranks of the Guyana Police Force are oftentimes seen directing traffic even though the signals are functioning. That too does not help to reduce the time-consuming obstruction.He said that to reduce travelling time for those heading to Grove and communities beyond, another lane should have been constructed south of the existing Diamond Housing Scheme main road, but that would encroach on empty land that is private property.According to the engineer, like the bridge, the scheme’s main road is also too narrow and does not have necessary safety features. For instance, there is no pedestrian walkway and this is hazardous to the hundreds of persons,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, including students, who walk the narrow stretch.“Those children occupy almost one-lane in the afternoons and this is dangerous. They need pavements to be safe. Also there is inadequate space for vehicles to stop,” the engineer emphasised.He stressed that it is evident that the Jagdeo administration did not properly plan the development of this “grand housing scheme”. He wondered why the then Government did not consider the necessity of building road and bridge infrastructure to accommodate the thousands of persons that would have occupied the scheme.He added that the establishment of commercial banks, a gas station and food court, hospital and schools did not happen overnight, so erecting adequate infrastructure should have been done years ago.According to the engineer, erecting an alternative entrance for the scheme should have been a priority. In July 2011, the Guyana Chronicle had stated, “Government has already secured the land that will be used to construct a two-lane road linking first street Diamond to an area between TOPCO factory and the GUYOIL gas station on the East Bank, which will serve as a second entrance into the Diamond Housing Scheme,Cheap Jerseys China, and will see the traffic congestion which occurs at peak hours reduced considerably.”The engineer said he is hoping that if