Following the new road traffic measure introduced at Bell Village flyover every morning, and the subsequent protest from local residents who can no longer use the flyover, the government has decided to use a ?pass system? to identify local motorists and allow them to use Gungah Lane every morning. However, this ?pass system? seems unfortunately limited to Camp-Chapelon only, and Guibies has again been ignored.

The fact that the authorities have reacted is a clear indication that they recognize their measure was not perfect. But their ?pass system? solution is only a partial solution! It?s ridiculous to rush with an imperfect system, only to modify it later, thereby defeating its original purpose. We, residents of Morcellement Guibies, want to be able to use the flyover as well, since many vehicles from here need to access Old Moka Road and Mgr Leen Ave every morning and it is very inconvenient to go all the way down to Caudan round about.

The best solution is to allow vehicles from Guibies Road to access the third lane directly. This is possible and feasible without any adverse impact. Besides, this is allowed at Mt Ory. Why not at Guibies?

In any case, traffic flow along the third lane is very irregular, with large gaps between vehicles, which means traffic from Guibies Road can easily be accommodated into the flow without disturbing the overall traffic fluidity.

This will reduce the pressure on Caudan roundabout and also enable maximum utilization of the Bell Village flyover bridge. The purpose of the initial measure was to allow an uninterrupted flow of traffic from the North towards the south. However, it is easily noted that this objective has not been met since excess traffic towards Caudan is disrupting the flow at Caudan roundabout and causing severe obstruction at Brabant st and in front of the Line Barracks. The interests of residents of Pailles were completely ignored and the discriminative measure was implemented without any prior consultation, thus penalizing local residents. The overall benefit is negligible compared to the costs (infrastructure and human resources) involved! With better planning and some structural readjustments, the same measure would have yielded a totally different and highly positive result, but unfortunately the technicians involved seem to lack such vision and competence.

There is another problem that affects mainly motorcyclists and cyclists at Pailles. There is a high two-wheeler traffic between Guibies and Port Louis and between Guibies and Camp-Chapelon. Motorcyclists and bicyclists risk their lives trying to cross the motorway every day. There are men going to work, fathers taking children to or picking children from school/tuition, etc. The speed allowed on the motorway in Pailles is 90 km, and vehicles crossing Pailles do so at very high speed and people risk their lives everyday to cross the motorway with motorcycles and bicycles. It is not convenient for a two-wheeler to ride up to the Pailles interchange. Besides, the interchange is getting busier day by day with rising number of companies, factories setting up in the region, and frequently held events at the Pailles conference centre.

There are two possible solutions: One is to install traffic lights at Guibies Rd junction to allow traffic from Guibies Road access the motorway directly in both directions. A traffic light is already operational on the motorway at Cassis to allow pedestrians cross, and there is therefore no reason why traffic lights cannot be used at Guibies as well. It is also necessary to impose a speed limit of 60km along this stretch of motorway. (A 60km speed limit is already in place at Roche-Bois motorway, therefore a similar limit can be imposed at Pailles). Traffic lights at Guibies will also ease pressure on the interchange.

A second solution is to construct a flyover bridge somewhere between Guibies and Camp-Chapelon exclusively for two-wheelers to enable them cross the motorway safely. This is entirely feasible.

Our constituency has 4 members of Parliament. However, three of them seem to have disappeared. We count on the support of Hon James Burty DAVID, the only one who is keeping touch with No 1, to realise the above.

<B> Mohammed S. HAMUTH</B>