Gian Hurbunsee is having a hard time driving his taxi towards Palma Road. Since he picked up his two Spanish customers on that Monday morning, time is running and it is already late for check-in at Plaisance airport. His passengers? unhurried style cannot be wholly accounted for this panic: his car is moving with difficulty under a large shadow. That of a long and large lorry heading a whole line of cars, with all drivers drawn to the end of their tether by that 20 km/h pace advance.

In a way, Gian, ranking second in the congestion, does not fare too bad. Except that the lorry?s width takes all the left side, up to the white line. To overtake looks like a hazard and the bold risk of frontal collision. ?This situation is just too frequent. On Montée Bol, Flic-en-Flac, or on the way from Saint-Martin to Canot, it has alas become a common feature to deal with. And some of these lorries emit loads of smoke from their exhaust?, adds resentfully the taximan. ?So is that normal??

Koshik Reesaul, principal engineer at the Trafic Management and Road Safety Unit, voices the position of authorities: ?The problem is complex and can?t be easily addressed. Concerning speed limit, there are regulations. Lorries over 3.5 tons, for example, when not laden can?t exceed 40 km per hour?. Veenayeswuar Toolsy, assistant commissioner of police, completes the picture: ?The Commissioner of Police, through successive communiqués, based on the Road Traffic Act, has already taken measures to restrict lorries and determined heavy weight vehicles on specific routes.?

It is in that way that drivers and owners of goods vehicles exceeding 3.5 tons, when not laden, have been prohibited in July 2000 from traveling between 7.30 am and 9 am on the M1 Motorway (from Phoenix roundabout to Quay D roundabout) and A1 Road (from St-Jean roundabout to Royal Road Port-Louis) via Rose-Hill. In 2006, the same category of vehicles was banned for the same time-span from Ebène Road (Vandermesch to the motorway) and Julius Nyerere Street (from Rose-Hill Police Station to the motorway).

?In reality, the trucks are already on the road before this span of time are stopped and forced to park when found on the motorway at the restricted hours?, explains Koshik Reesaul. But things become really difficult on the old main road, where there is merely no space for lorries to park. ?Policemen have then no solution but to let them go for practical reasons.?

Road works done at night

?The law as well is strict with trucks carrying materials with smoke particles that can be blown by wind?, adds a contact at the National Transport Authority. ?Anyway, this does not solve the headache of those who have to go to work in the morning and who have to use roads congested with lorries before arriving to the restricted ways?, points Gian.

In front of that, Veenayeswuar Toolsy waves the argument of goodwill: ?Both police and the ministry of Transport do their best to ensure the most fluid traffic. For example, major road works are being held at night.?

So why not extend the time restriction to truck circulation? ?They (lorry owners) will put the pressure and prevent that from happening and the main motivation is they presently have no overtime to pay to their drivers?, retorts a sceptical Gian.

That is evidently not the opinion of one lorry owner. ?It is true that, our peak time in terms of demand being between 7 and 9 am, we lose time and therefore money, waiting for nine o?clock to begin delivery?, says Chandan Jugru, who runs Quincaillerie Jaguar, a family business in Beau-Bassin. But ?there is never any risk of overtime for us. In fact the activity in the sector has become so morose nowadays that we have finished by 5 p.m!?

Then a more shaded explanation comes from Koshik Reesaul: ?We tend to notice the congestion caused by lorries at off-peak time. In fact congestion already exists on the motorway at peak with the mixed traffic of cars and buses, which are close in size to lorries.? Lorries are sometimes on the way at that time for logistic reasons. ?A truck which has to deliver in the North by 10 a.m may have to take the road at dawn.?

That does not surmount the physical reality of those daily nerve-breaking obstacles on the good morning way. ?One solution could be the extension of lorry restricted roads at some other sensible parts of the network or the allocation of one-way traffic roads for these?, suggests ACP Toolsy, adding that the whole decision needs consultations with the parent ministry. ?And from other stakeholders, like the Chamber of Commerce?, adds Koshik Reesaul. The road may stay slow, but the gateway is economical. The other problem is to know if this marred progress is not a greater threat to our productivity and quality of life than the arguments in favour of laissez-faire.