Hanover gets first traffic lights
Signals at OceanPointe housing scheme commissioned into service
Published:Thursday | September 29, 2022 | 12:05 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE FIRST traffic signal lighting system in the parish of Hanover, the infrastructure of which was put together during the month of July, was commissioned into service on Thursday, September 22.
The traffic lights which are located at the Oceanpointe Housing Scheme, metres away from the Grand Palladium hotel in the Point area of Eastern Hanover, became a reality through an agreement between the developers of the housing scheme, Scenic Developments Limited, and the National Works Agency (NWA).
Scenic Development Limited has so far constructed approximately 430 housing units at the scheme, 398 of which have been handed over to purchasers.
During a brief ceremony to mark the official turning on and commissioning of the traffic directional lighting system, operations manager of Oceanpointe Housing Development, Gabrielle Grant, noted that in the interest of safety, residents have been asking for the lighting system for some time.
“Our residents have been asking for it, given that this is a high-speed area, and they have been having concerns about their safety and the safety of the travelling public that uses this thoroughfare,” she stated.
She added that acquiring and commissioning the traffic signal lighting system, which is three kilometres east of the Hanover capital, Lucea, is in keeping with fulfilling their mandate as responsible developers.
DELIGHT
Councillor for the Sandy Bay division in the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), the division in which the development falls, and deputy mayor of Lucea, Andria Dehaney-Grant, while expressing delight that the first traffic lights to be installed in Hanover are in her division, said they represent a signal of things to come.
“I am sure that this stretch of roadway has taken the lives of many persons as there have been many accidents on it, and to see this light is an indication that there is help in monitoring the movement of traffic in this area, which should be successful in decreasing the number of accidents and road fatalities on this thoroughfare,” Dehaney-Grant said.
She added that the traffic signals will protect the lives of residents of the area and Hanover in general.
Superintendent of Police in charge of Hanover, Sharon Beeput, told The Gleaner that whereas the implementation of the traffic lights signal at the Oceanpointe Housing scheme is a good gesture, she would like to see more signals placed in other areas across the parish.
“I would love to see a stop light like in Hopewell, where we have congestion in the mornings and evenings sometimes, also in the town of Lucea, and other areas that the police have identified, so that the number of vehicular traffic that passes through the towns daily can be controlled,” she stated.
Beeput was, however, upbeat that the process has started.
She questioned whether or not the lights at the Oceanpointe development will affect the flow of traffic on the main thoroughfare.
Barrington Cross, of the NWA’s traffic signal department, responded by saying that the system is “fully sensorised” so it will not obstruct the flow of traffic on the main thoroughfare.
According to Cross, the traffic flow on the Point main road “will only be halted when the sensors in the system detect someone attempting to exit the housing development”.