Evolution of Trinidad's Highways

End of the line of the still yet to be completed San Fernando
/Point Fortin Highway
Photo from B.F

Before there were highways which bypassed small villages, there were the main roads. In Trinidad, they are the Eastern Main Road which runs from Port of Spain to Sangre Grande and the Southern Main which runs from Curepe to Point Fortin. Until the 1940s and 1950s, they were the main thoroughfares in order to access both San Fernando and Port of Spain. As they also run alongside the now abandoned rail line, the towns running along the main roads like Arima, Tunapuna, and San Juan to the North and Cunupia, Chaguanas and Couva to the South were bustling with business and residential areas. In the 1940s, with the American presence on the island due to the war, they started construction of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway from Port of Spain to Wallers Air Force Base in Cumuto with the sole purpose of transporting war equipment without the hustle of the main road. Although a two lane road, the Churchill Roosevelt Highway replaces the Eastern Main Road as the main access route in and out of Port of Spain and in the early 1960s or 1970s the Highway was upgraded to a dual carriageway. In the 1950’s came the construction of the Princess Margret Highway which was constructed from Valsayn to Chaguanas to bypass the towns that the Southern Main Road occupy to save travel time. In the early 1970’s the North-South Highway network was expanded with the construction of the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway which links the Princess Margret Highway at Chaguanas to Toruba near the city of San Fernando which later was upgraded to a four lane dual carriageway. In the 1980s the Princess Margret Highway was upgraded to a four lane dual carriageway and expanded to Char Fleur and was renamed the Uriah Butler Highway.

In the early 2000’s the Solomon Hochoy Highway was expanded from Toruba to the village of Golconda, in the process of bypassing the city of San Fernando. With the increasing amount of traffic on the highways, in 2008 began the construction of the Churchill Roosevelt/Uriah Butler highway Interchange which replaces the intersection which proved to be a death trap for accidents and to maintain traffic flow. In early 2011 came the construction of the highway extension south from Golconda to the southern areas of Point Fortin and Penal.

Cross Crossing Interchange present day
Photo from B.F.

Churchill-Roosevelt/Uriah Butler Highway Interchange
Photo from B.F.

Reflection

Looking at the large interchange at Nestle, I can remember about a decade ago coming from Port of Spain there used to be a large intersection that crossed both the Uriah Butler and Churchill Roosevelt Highways. Sometimes it was stressing waiting for the traffic lights to change and the intersection at times proved to be a death trap to the speeding drivers that lose control. However the interchange is a measure put to decrease the traffic gridlocks leaving and coming into the capital.

Development for Vehicles Vs. Human Space

Port of Spain sidewalk- photo by Esther Davis

   When someone looks at this picture what do you think is the first thing that stands out? Most likely it would be the high rise urban architecture in the background or the long stretched road. But what about the side walk in the picture or the tree in the background that shows a small piece of nature incorporated in a city based on urban development and concrete structures. Do present day urban developmental planners plan for the preservation of human space? Or is the development of the world centered around cars.  

    Cars and other forms of transport have made life more convenient the average person. According to urban designer Zachary Shahan,"The car has somehow become inseparably linked to the concept of freedom." People are able to access places longer distances away, in shorter periods of time with the use of this technology. But with the growth of cities and  growth of the population of cities the number of cars increases. More persons own cars privately because of the convenience it offers. This increase in the number of cars within an urban area however leads to the need for more space for these vehicles. Urban planners and architects in turn design and build more large highway systems and parking structures to facilitate of these cars.
          The Human Scale 2013, directed by Andreas Mol Dalsgaard is a documentary about architects and urban planners where they discuss ways to increase human interaction. In this documentary it is mentioned that "cities have been planned for cars not people." An example of this is in the article Land for Vehicles or people by Todd Litman. In the article the author mentions that in the USA "in automobile dependent communities with road and parking supply sufficient to keep traffic congestion to the level typical in U.S cities, plus parking spaces at most destinations, a city must devote between 2000 and 4000 square feet of land to roads and off-street parking per automobile.With this large amount of space required to accommodate cars and this space requirements increasing with the increasing number of cars what can be said for the space within smaller countries like Trinidad. Small side walks and little to no places in urban areas where people can spend time socializing and enjoying recreation are results of this.   

  "What is the future of our public space?" The shortage and inequity in the distribution of urban open space are symptomatic of larger transformations of public space" Banerjee (2001). Upon visiting the city of Port of Spain and walking to the Water taxi terminal I realized that there was very little open public space for people to walk. While crossing the highway I had to stand on a small concrete block in order to be safely away from the moving traffic on either side while I waited to get to the other side of the road. Along the stretch to the terminal I found my self walking around obstacles such as lamp posts and street signs.Looking at the picture you can clearly see the inequality in the distribution of space being depicted. The design of the road infrastructure within the capital city consist of four lanes for vehicles driving in one direction. While the sidewalk is only designed for about two people to walk comfortably side by side at the same time. Obstacles such as bus stops, fire hydrants and a number of others are placed on the sidewalks by private companies taking away from what little public space we have access to. What about people suffering from disabilities or injuries that have taken away there ability to walk, where is the public space to facilitate for these persons located? If urban developers do not start taking into consideration the value of human space, human spaces in urban areas will be lost. Cities need to be developed around human needs first since it is we that inhabit these cities.
"All architectural are human values, else not valuable at all," Frank Lloyd Wright.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON  CARS VS HUMAN SPACE CHECK OUT 

http://www.planetizen.com/node/72454/land-vehicles-or-people

OR

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/cities-for-people-or-cars/

Reference:

Banerjee, T. (2001). The Future of Public Space "Beyond Invented Streets and Reinvented Places" Journal of American Planning Association, 67(1), 9.

Urban Water Transportation

                                               The Port of Spain Ferry Terminal- Photo by Esther Davis

Brief History of the Ferry Service

  In 1901 the Government of Trinidad and Tobago signed a contract with Britain’s Royal Mail Steam Packet Company establishing the ‘Government Shipping Service. Back in the 1900’s transportation was not as advanced as it is today and the Piarco International Airport did not yet exist making the shipping service the only means of transportation between these two islands.The government purchased their first vessel the SS Belize in 1924 and this steam ship ran for years till 1929.

   In 1930 the SS Tobago was purchased and later that year the SS Trinidad. These vessels could hold a total of 384 passengers and accommodate for 488 tons of cargo. These vessels took over for the SS Belize and operated until 1957, approximately 27 years. These vessels made a Port of Spain to Scarborough run on a weekly basis. The SS Tobago and Trinidad were replaced by roll on roll off vessels after completing their service. The ‘Scarlet Ibis’ and ‘the Bird of Paradise’ (Roll on/roll off vessels) served for 25 years. A number of other ferries were introduced over years.

Finally the introduction of fast ferries came in 2005 and Trinidad and Tobago got the Cat and the Lynx. The passenger capacity of these vessels were an impressive 850 people compared to the capacity of previously operated ferries. On 27^th of December 2006, the Port Authority commissioned the first National ferry renamed the T&T Express and 25^th July 2007 the second ferry was commissioned and named the T&T Spirit. These vessels currently operate to this day.

Water Taxi Terminal located in Port of Spain

In 2008, the use of sea transportation was no longer intended to only be used as transport between the two islands(Trinidad &Tobago) but now also as a means of transportation to and from the urban cities. The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago formally introduced the Water Taxi Service. The introduction of the water taxi was intended for citizens of Trinidad as well as Tourists to have an alternative means of transportation. The taxi service was geared towards operating along the North-South Corridor (Point Fortin to Diego Martin) and along the East-West Corridor. Persons can purchase tickets at any two of the water taxi terminals located at Flatrock, San Fernando, and at the Cruise Ship Complex, Port-of-Spain for only $15. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago plans for construction and future expansion of the service with plans to place terminals in the following locations, Chaguanas (Waterloo/Orange Valley), Point Fortin, and Point Cumana.

In 1968 the Government of Trinidad removed the railway passenger system and began the use of maxi taxis, buses and other motor vehicles as modes of transportation available to the public. According to (Rojas 1989) "..traffic congestion and the like, are problems currently present only to a minimum extent in the main urban areas in the Eastern Caribbean." But with the growing human population and increasing number of vehicles on the road ways over the last 48 years, these problems can no longer be referred to as minimum in 2016. Due to this the Government implemented the Water Taxi service with the intentions of reducing traffic congestion within the urban cities and this initiative has been successful to an extent.

The picture below shows the traffic congestion in the City of Port of Spain on a Saturday afternoon. It was taken at this angle because you can see the water taxi terminal located in the background of the image. It gives a contrast between both modes of transportation and the advancements of transport. The picture also highlights one of the problems that Rojas mentioned existing in urban areas and the water taxi service being a management strategy to help reduce and control the issue. Do you feel that the Water Taxi Service has assisted in reducing traffic congestion in urban areas?  What do you think about the advancements in transport within the urban areas in Trinidad?

For more information on the history of Trinidad and Tobago's Ferry Service please check out the link below.

https://ttitferry.com/vessels.php?mid=38

Reference:
"Human Settlements of the Eastern: Development Problems and Policy Options." Cities 6. no.3 (1989): 248-253.

THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF MODERN TRANSPORT

THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF MODERN TRANSPORT

Traffic on the Churchill Roosevelt (Photo Esther Davis)

    The use of road transportation in Trinidad boomed in the 1950's when the Trinidad Government Railway (TGR) was beginning the process of disbandment. With the removal of the passenger rail system in 1968, the government began the utilization of the bus and maxi services with the same purpose of transporting large crowds of passengers to their destinations. The only difference between the trains is that road vehicles can manage high grades that trains, which requires a tunnel though a hill or mountain for access.

     However, as decades past, more persons began to purchase and drive their motor vehicles on the highways. The highways in the past, being a single two way road, making congestion all too common, therefore the highways were upgraded to dual carriageways. Although it relived the congestion at that time, it was not long term as presently, traffic persists on the nation’s highways. Although government proposes new routes and upgrading of existing road networks, it still does not solve the problem. We must go to the root of the problem, and that is there are too many motor vehicles that the road system can accommodate. Even if the highways are expanded to have more lanes, with the increase of motor vehicles on the roads, these upgrades would be meaningless.  

       

    There should be measures in order to reduce the congestion of the nation’s roads, such as utilizing and improving the public bus services, in that more buses should be purchased to accommodate the population, maintenance of the buses and improved time scheduling. Another measure would be the implementation toll installations on the highways, in that persons driving private cars would have to pay a fare to use the highway system depending on the number of persons in the vehicle while buses, utilized by the Public Transport Services Corporation (PTSC), would freely pass through. Recently, the Government gave the commencement of the construction of the Rapid rail project. This project has the ability of greatly reducing the congestion of traffic on the nation’s roads as trains can accommodate more passengers than a normal bus, to its destination in the shortest amount of time. It can be a success if the previous measures are implemented and when the local economy improves after we overcome the implication of low oil prices.



Reflection
 The photos were taken while travelling to the capital city of Port of Spain on the Churchill Roosevelt highway. While sitting in the traffic it seemed like taking a photo of the congestion on both sides of the highway would make for a wonderful blog post on the ways in which the modernization of transport can impact negatively on society.