A Scarborough traffic study will be undertaken this month (May 2015), at a cost of $350,000, as the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) looks to optimise the traffic flow in the island’s capital.

Assistant Secretary of the Division of Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Handel Beckles, made the disclosure Wednesday at the weekly post Executive Council media briefing at the Administrative Complex in Calder Hall.

According to Beckles, Caribbean Transportation Consultancy Services Company Limited (CARITRANS) has been awarded the contract, which will feature two parts: a traffic volume study and an operational analysis study.

“The process is scientific and will see automatic traffic counts being recorded by radar counters over a seven-day period during routine city operations,” he told reporters.

Beckles said the study will capture the state of traffic within Scarborough at peak levels, as well as the type of vehicles travelling in and around the city.

He noted that the findings of this study will be valuable in planning Tobago’s traffic. This data, Beckles hopes, will lead to other solutions and technologies for an integrated transportation system.

The Assistant Secretary also provided an update on the Division’s annual road paving exercise, which began in March. So far, he confirmed, just over $18.2 million of the total $86.7 million has been spent on ten major roads.

The paving exercise is being complemented by a pothole repair programme to ensure Tobago’s roads are maintained.

With the Assembly facing a budgetary shortfall from the Central Government, the Division will have to either source alternative funding, or prioritise areas where works will take place, Beckles explained.

There are still many roads to be paved across the island, he noted, but the Assembly understands the importance of quality road work to Tobago. This is why, he said, the road projects remain a priority for the Division.

Three private contractors, Seereeram Bros Limited, Trinidad Contractors Ltd and Warner’s Construction, will continue to work alongside the Division’s in-house teams on the annual paving programme.