Hanover top cop calls for better road signs

WESTERN BUREAU:

With motorists and pedestrians constantly complaining about lengthy traffic delays in towns such as Hopewell and Lucea in Hanover, the police commander for the parish, Superintendent Sharon Beeput, is calling on the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) to erect more street signs to address the free flow of traffic.

Speaking at last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the HMC, Beeput explained that better road signage would lead to better policing, better driving habits by motorists, which would ultimately lead to fewer traffic jams in the main towns.

“We are looking at the lack of road signs in the parish, so I just want you to be aware that more signs are needed so that we (the police) can carry out our functions better in terms of traffic management,” said Beeput. “We have noticed that there has been a reduction in the maintenance and replacing of road signs, which is affecting our functioning in the parish.”

CHALLENGING MATTERS

Beeput went on to state that members of the public have been complaining about not seeing the relevant signage along the roadways, a situation that has been posing a challenge for both the public and police officers.

She went on to name communities such as Great River, Point Hill, Round Hill Bluff, Hopewell, the Orchard main road, Sandy Bay, and Point, in the eastern part of the parish, with missing signs: speed limit, No Parking, No Stopping, silent zone, and school zones. She said in the western half of the parish, the situation was the same in Elgin Town, Johnson Town, Lucea, and Watson Taylor Drive.

“These signs are urgently needed for us to police the space and for us to prevent the numerous fatal accidents that we are having in these areas,” said Beeput, who emphasised the point by outlining that, in 2020, there were 20 fatal collisions, resulting in 23 fatalities in the areas she named.

With Beeput providing a detailed report of where and what kind of signs are needed across the parish, Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuels, who is also chairman of the HMC, suggested that the information be forwarded to the Traffic Management Committee for the parish.

It was subsequently agreed that the report will be presented at the next meeting of the Hanover Traffic Management Committee.