Roads in Guyana
In 2004, Guyana's road network was approximately 3,995 kilometers (2,482 mi) long, 24 percent or 940 kilometers of which comprised primary roads in the coastal and riverine areas serving the agricultural sector, while the road to Linden serves the mining and forestry sectors. 21 percent (820 kilometers) is made up of feeder roads that link the agricultural areas along the coast to the primary road network. The remaining 56 percent (2,235 kilometers) is composed of interior roads and trails. Most access roads are in poor condition. However, the Central Government has targeted several roads for complete rehabilitation, and already many have been rehabilitated.[1][2][3]
The main coastal roads are, from west to east, the Essequibo Coast Road, the Parika to Vreed en Hoop Road, the East Coast Demerara and West Coast Berbice Roads, and the Corentyne Highway from New Amsterdam to Moleson Creek (86 kilometers). All these roads are paved and their speed limit vary between 50 and 100 km/h.
South of Georgetown the primary road is the East Bank Demerara Road, a four-lane road from Rumiveldt to Providence and two-lane from Providence to Timehri Georgetown to Timehri, where the Cheddi Jagan International Airport - Timehri (CJIAT) is located.
Between 1966 and 1968, Soesdyke, located on the East Bank Demerara Road, was connected to Mackenzie by a modern two lane highway, called the Soesdyke-Linden Highway. This road was constructed as a section of a highway connecting Georgetown with Lethem. In 1968 a bridge was built across the Demerara River at Linden, and, in 1974, it was decided that the route to Lethem would cross the Demerara River at Linden and go south, along the watershed of the Demerara and Essequibo Rivers, through Mabura, to Kurupukari. From Kurupukari it would run parallel to the old cattle trail to Annai, and from Annai it would follow an already existing road to Lethem.
In the early 1970s a two-lane road with modern geometry and surfaced with laterite was built between Linden and Rockstone. This road was later connected to Mabura and Kurupukari. In 1990-91 a two-lane laterite road was constructed between Kurupukari and Annai and a vehicle ferry installed at Kurupukari. Since there was already an existing road between Mabura and Kurupukari, and between Annai and Lethem, it was now possible for vehicles to travel between Georgetown and Lethem.
In the period 1974 to 1978, an attempt was made to build a road between Rockstone and Kurupung to facilitate the construction of a large hydroelectric station. From Rockstone it headed north to Suribanna, where a pontoon ferry was installed across the Essequibo River to Sherima. From Sherima the road went westward, intersecting the Bartica - Mahdia Road at Allsopp Point 31 km (19 mi) from Bartica. From Allsopp Point the road followed the existing road towards Bartica and branched off 8 km (5 mi) from Bartica going to Teperu in the lower reaches on the Mazaruni River. At Teperu a pontoon ferry was installed across the Mazaruni River to Itaballi. From Itaballi the road went westward to Peter's Mine on the Puruni River. From Peter's Mine the road continued as a penetration road to Kurupung. This road is referred to as the UMDA Road.
There is in addition a hinterland east-west main road system that extends from Kwakwani in the east, through Ituni, Linden, Rockstone, Sherima to Bartica in the west. Linden is therefore one of the main hubs for road transportation in the hinterland.
Outside the existing main roads there are several other interior roads or trails that comprise approximately 1,570 kilometers. Most of those roads are unpaved, and will deteriorate if maintenance remains inadequate. They are found mostly in the hinterland and riverain areas and provide linkages with a number of important mining and forestry activities thus facilitating transportation between the mining and forestry communities and the more developed coastal areas. Parts of this road/trail network can be developed into an arterial road system linking the hinterland communities with each other and to the main road network. It is estimated that roads carry 80 percent of Guyana's passenger traffic and about 33 percent of its freight.
Commuters to West Demerara have a choice of road transport via the Demerara Harbour Bridge or by the Demerara River ferry from the Stabroek Stelling to Vreed en Hoop, which is obliquely opposite.
The highway that begins on the West Coast of Demerara is heavily trafficked since it provides a link to Parika on the East Bank of the Essequibo River, which has become an important center of economic activity in the Essequibo region.
It is now possible to travel overland to Suriname by taking the ferry on the Guyana side at Moleson Creek and crossing the Corentyne River over to Suriname at South Drain. While travel to Brazil is via the old cattle trail it has been upgraded into a fair weather track that passes through the bauxite-producing town of Linden and ending at Lethem.
Bridges
The coastal main road system is not continuous. There are gaps whenever it intersects the Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice Rivers. People and goods move across these gaps by ferry systems as well as the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) and the Berbice Bridge.[4]
The Demerara Harbour Bridge is a two-lane floating toll bridge, 1.9 km (1.2 mi) long, near the mouth of the Demerara River. It is primarily a low-level bridge which possesses an elevated span with a vertical clearance of 7.9 m (26 ft) in the middle of the river to permit small craft to pass. In addition, across the shipping channel, there are two spans which retract to permit the passage of ocean-going vessels. From mid-1998 toll revenue has been credited to the account of the DHB and not to the Government of Guyana, as it was until then. This is a step towards the establishment of the DHB as an autonomous statutory authority. At present the toll revenue does not meet the operational and maintenance costs of the bridge; the government of Guyana provides considerable subsidy for its upkeep. The bridge has been in existence since 1978 and currently notwithstanding the rigorous maintenance regime, sits at the end of its useful life.
In 2007, construction resumed on the Takutu River Bridge to link Guyana and Brazil in the southwest region of Guyana near Lethem. The bridge was officially opened on September 14, 2009, enabling economic interests in northern Brazil to link by road to the port at Georgetown. Unprecedented construction and population growth in Lethem since the bridge's opening reflects the significantly increased traffic and movement of goods facilitated by the bridge. The Takutu Bridge is seen as the first of several joint projects between Guyana and Brazil intended to facilitate cargo traffic: Brazil is expected to subsidize the paving of the Lethem-to-Georgetown road, a development that would have profound impacts on the area's economy and environment. Dredging of the Georgetown port to accommodate deeper-draft cargo vessels is also being planned.
Ferries
Ferry services link the primary roads in the coastal area, and Guyana with Suriname. The Government's Transport an hid Harbour Department provides scheduled ferry services in the Essequibo and Demerara rivers. Small privately owned river-craft supplement these services. Since the opening of the Berbice River Bridge in December 2008 the Transport and Harbour Department has reduced its service to only one round trip daily between Rosignol and New Amsterdam.
Currently the only ferry service consistently showing profit is The Parika-Adventure. Service for the remainder, in particular The North West services, the Government provides a cross-subsidy funded out of the profits that are always realized by the Harbor Branch of the Transport and Harbors Department. Nevertheless, ferry operations have the potential to be profitable, provided that capital investments are made to improve their physical assets. With the establishment of a Maritime Administration and subsequently a National Sea Ports Authority the ferry operations may be privatized or operated as a commercially viable autonomous agency.
There is also a ferry linking Guyana and Suriname crossing the Corentyne River from Springlands (at Corriverton in Guyana) to Nieuw Nickerie, a town in Suriname. Leaving Rosignol at 8:00hrs and now at 14:30hrs respectively. This service is primarily geared at offsetting the high cost for crossing the Berbice Bridge for school children, public servants and the elderly.
Ultimately, key ferry links were to be replaced with bridges, starting with one from Rosignol to New Amsterdam across the Berbice River.
At the end of 1999 the fleet of ferry vessels owned by the Transport and Harbors Department comprised nine motor vessels, six of which ranged in age from 15 to 55 years. Indeed, two of the vessels were over fifty years of age, and three over 30 years, with an average age of thirty-five. They are in almost continuous need of repair.
Challenges and future development
The gross inadequacy of Guyana's transportation system militates against its social and economic development in several ways. First, it increases production costs and, therefore, reduces competitiveness, particularly in the mining and forestry sectors. Second, it inhibits the capacity to fully utilize those natural resources (gold, timber, diamonds, soils suitable for agriculture) that are not located on the coastland. Third, by severely limiting communication between those who live on the coast and those who inhabit the hinterland, it effectively divides the country into two almost unbridgeable cultures. Fourth, it acts as a barrier to the unity of the country in both a physical and spiritual sense: because they are not unified physically, Guyanese seem to find it difficult to think as Guyanese, to act as if they are one nation. Fifth, it restricts the coastal population's penetration of the interior, and forces coastlanders to live in a cramped and crowded manner on the coast, struggling and competing for land-space and other amenities, while more suitable areas are available farther south. And sixth, failure to occupy the greater part of the country, might tend to bolster some of the claims of Guyana's neighbors to its territory.
The government of Guyana and Brazil signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2012 to explore the development of Hydro Power, Linden-Lethem Road and Deep Water Harbour to boost bilateral trade and cooperation. This network would have enabled easy access by road to the neighboring countries of Brazil, Venezuela and Surinam; reduced the costs of utilizing the country's timber and natural resources, thus making them more competitive in international markets; diversified agricultural development by making more easily available suitable areas in the hinterland, particularly in the Intermediate and Rupununi savannahs; relieved the over-crowded coastland of a significant proportion of its population, thus improving the quality of life of the inhabitants of both the coastal and interior areas; and made more feasible the equitable distribution of economic activity, not only in the agricultural but also in the manufacturing and small- industries sector.
A high-span fixed bridge is currently being studied to replace the existing DHB; a series of bridges and causeways linking the islands in the mouth of the Essequibo River to Morasi on the East Bank and Supenaam on the West Bank; and another high-span bridge across the Essequibo River at Monkey Jump.
Construction of a bridge across the Berbice River at Crab Island and D'Edwards on the East and West banks of Berbice River was completed in 2008.
In 2012, The Government of Guyana signed a contract with CHEC of China for the expansion of the runway at the CJIA and the construction of a modern terminal building at an estimated cost of 131Million US Dollars. Moreover, the airstrip at Timehri Airport would have been extended, and the entire Airport refurbished to accommodate an increasing number of passengers. The airport at Ogle would have been privatized, and much improved and extended.
Statistics
Highways
Total:
7,970 km
Paved:
590 km
Unpaved:
7,380 km (1996 est.)
- Driving is on the left, a practice inherited from United Kingdom colonial authorities. Guyana and Suriname are the only two countries on the (in-land) American continent who still drive on the left.
Notes
- ^ "In pursuit of roads in Guyana : Kaieteur News". Archived from the original on 2015-05-21.
- ^ Place names along Guyana's roads
- ^ "Streets in Guyana | Visual Geography".
- ^ "President commissions new Berbice River Bridge". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21.
External links
