EDITORIAL: Of potholes and memes

FOR the uninformed, Oxford Dictionaries Online defines a meme as an “image, video, piece of text, etc. typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users, often with slight variations”. And memes have certainly populated Barbadian cyberspace where the current pothole situation on our roads is concerned.

 

Torrential rainfall and severe flooding over the past months have worsened driving conditions to the point that Barbadians from all walks of life are complaining bitterly about deteriorated roads. It is an issue that has occupied drivers’ attentions – literally too, as one cannot afford to look away for fear of transporting to another dimension, as the memes and social media posts would have us believe. Road users have been advised where to turn for recourse in the event of damaged vehicles, and road safety advocates have also echoed the cries of drivers. 

 

Relief is in sight for some communities, as paving has already begun or is finished in some areas; for example, completed repairs in Goodland, St. Michael and those under way on the Brighton to Lower Greys route. Held up by a lack of material because the contractor was on holiday, the team from the Ministry of Transport and Works was back on the job as soon as it could. Ironically, while the Ministry was in the process of undertaking road works after $2 million was earmarked for restorations last September, rains and floods compounded and exacerbated road damages. 

 

This calls to mind a fundamental challenge we have in Barbados. Road repairs should not only take into account the materials and mixes used to achieve smooth paving, but also focus on how heavily trafficked an area is and if it floods easily. There are thousands of vehicles that traverse our roads daily. It is well noted that when schools are in session, there is even more traffic than usual. Add rain, blocked watercourses, flood-prone areas, and sudden school closures to that equation and extreme road wear and tear becomes unavoidable. 

 

One also has to bear in mind that some of the existing network in Barbados is quite old in terms of design, layout and width. Ideally, the Tudor Bridge to Green Hill route should be two wide, opposing lanes as obtains on some sections of the ABC highway. Currently, however, large vehicles such as buses or container trucks traversing Spooner’s Hill in opposite directions, for example, are forced to hop sidewalks to accommodate the other.

 

Barbados will always have to cope with the twin flaws of being flat and flood-prone. It will either mean patching and repatching roads, a situation that will always have a certain impermanence and expense; or finding comprehensive, far-reaching, novel solutions to adapt our roads for better usability. We are certain Barbados is not the only country in the world with this problem, as Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has alluded to, and in that vein there is some recourse for a future, more permanent fix. 

 

Until the current road conditions are improved, we are certain the memes, comments and frustration experienced by drivers will continue to be well ventilated.