A young mother grips the steering wheel of her Ford Escape as she gazes ahead at the hundreds of vehicles moving at a crawl for nearly 90 minutes. Frustration and anger grip her as she realises that her two children, who sit idly in the backseat, may once again be late for school because of the ‘hellish’ morning rush hour traffic.
Marina Bethel’s nightmare is shared by many locals who travel the streets of Nassau. But Bethel believes her traffic woes are particularly pressing.
“I live in South Beach and I have to leave for work by at least 7:00 am to head north on East Street into Palmdale where my children also go to school. If I leave even a minute later my whole day goes awry because I’m stuck in hours of traffic.
“Any parent will tell you that travelling with a 6 and 10-year-old in hours of traffic is not fun at all,” the bank teller continued. “And then when they’re late for school they miss out on a lot. So traffic is more than a bother, it’s hell. Who wants to be stuck in traffic for more than an hour. That’s just ridiculous on an island that seven by 21 miles.”
Cosmetologist and mother of four, Rakeisha Smith shared Ms Bethel’s views.
“I have to get myself and my four children ready every morning,” said the 34-year-old Elizabeth Estates resident. “Thanks to the traffic problem in Nassau, getting dressed has to be done by 6:45 in the morning so we can catch the bus. That’s just not fair. It feels like I’m in the military because I’m always up at the crack of dawn and that becomes draining, especially on my young children.”
But some motorists pointed out that traffic congestion now leaves streets crowded all day long.
“Before, rush hour use to only be in the mornings before 9 am, around 3 pm when school is finished, and in the evenings when everybody gets off at five,” said Thaddeus Sweeting, 58. “But nowadays, every time you get in your car you hit traffic. Even on those roads where you never saw it before.”
This, the warehouse manager said, encourages reckless driving by irritated and impatient motorists.
“Everyone has somewhere to go and traffic just slows them down. So it’s like when people see traffic, they just go crazy, said Mr Sweeting. “If you look at half of the accidents we have, they always happen for some stupid reason, like someone can’t wait, so they try to overtake. So traffic is just plain dangerous.”
Still, Andrew Duncanson, 45, said he is still hoping the government will address the traffic situation.
“Well the government is doing something,” said the automobile salesman. “I mean the FNM brought the Charles W Saunders Highway out south and the PLP brought the Tonique Williams Darling Highway out west.
“They both help to alleviate traffic to some degree but it isn’t enough because there’s still a significant amount of traffic crowding our streets,” he continued. “I hope to see them do more though.”
Traffic congestion has plagued the nation’s capital for decades.
By: JASMIN BONIMY, The Nassau Guardian
