New roundabout praised by BRSA

President of the Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA), Sharmane Roland-Bowen is pleased to see the construction of the new roundabout outside the entrance to The Villages at Coverley.

She spoke to The Barbados Advocate about this recently, as she commended the effort, noting that it will go a long way in decreasing the risk of accidents occurring at that junction.

“We’ve seen quite a bit of persons crossing the oncoming traffic to enter Coverley instead of going right down to the roundabout and turning around and now with the increased number of persons that are living there, with the students from Ross University moving in and the accompanying traffic that is anticipated, we can say nothing less than that it is a good measure that has been put in place,” she added.

Roland-Bowen went further, contending that with the close to 2000 persons associated with the university now living on the island and using our roads, coupled with the increasing number of visitors to our shores annually, Government should be energised to get the breathalyser testing in place. She added that if Government does indeed want Barbados to become a hub for medical education, it is important that it take steps to further safeguard the lives of those persons who would be seeking to pursue studies here.

“We don’t want it to seem we are only interested in the money, the economic benefit that those persons will bring to Barbados; we have taken on the responsibility of their safety now on the roads. So we need to put faster wheels on that breathalyser, because in this new year we do not want something to happen to cause serious injury or fatalities that could be avoided. So let us put measures in place to ensure it is here sooner rather than later,” she said.

Additionally, the road safety advocate raised concern about the number of streets lights on the ABC highway in particular that are not working. She is adamant that with the extra revenue being raised via the fuel tax, some of that money should be put back into road safety to help make the roads safer. That, she said includes not only fixing the street lights, but repainting the pedestrian crossings and the road markings which divide the lanes.

“There are so many things that need to be done, including much needed road repairs as potholes are still an issue that needs urgent attention,” she stated. (JRT)