It is the most notorious choke point on the slow, grinding commute to George Town from all points east. Now, highway planners have come up with a novel solution to the problem of the Grand Harbour roundabout – getting rid of it completely.
The proposal is one of a number of possibilities under consideration for the chaotic intersection, amid projections that new housing and retail development could make gridlock in the area even worse.
A new National Roads Authority report contemplates a multi-million-dollar package of new roundabout layouts, traffic lights and pedestrian crossings along a 1.5-mile commuter corridor believed to be the slowest stretch of road in Grand Cayman.
Data modelling based on population trends suggests another 28,000 vehicles a day could be trickling along the route, from Lantern Point to King’s Sports Centre, within the next decade. By that time, the NRA data suggests it will be quicker to walk.
It proposes this can be alleviated through a series of traffic-management improvements – including new metered signals to regulate traffic flow on every junction on the four major roundabouts in that stretch.
The proposals include consideration of smart traffic lights, which adjust according to the road conditions.
The report also looks at possibilities for redesigning those roundabouts.
A pedestrian bridge across the busy intersection has also been put forward for consideration, while the NRA is proposing pedestrian crosswalks and enhanced sidewalks at all four roundabouts.
Massive road-building plan
The report references 17 road-building projects that are committed to and budgeted through 2026.
Those include a new ‘service road’ from the CUC roundabout for traffic heading to neighbourhoods in Red Bay or new developments around Grand Harbour.
The widening of the Linford Pierson Highway, Bobby Thompson Way and the East-West Arterial are also slated for that time period.
Further ‘committed projects’ through 2036 include the South Sound bypass corridor.
The NRA report cautions that, even with those road developments, population growth will make traffic conditions worse, without further action.
By 2036, NRA data modelling suggests it could take as long as 35 minutes to travel just over a mile from the Tomlinson Roundabout to Grand Harbour roundabout at rush hour – slower than walking pace.
Clogged arteries
The report, ‘CUC Roundabout to Tomlinson Roundabout Corridor Multimodal Improvement Plan’, looks at options for managing traffic flow through four roundabouts which are major traffic pinch points on the route from the eastern districts to town.
The study indicates that commuters are already changing their travel and work habits to avoid this journey at peak times.
Up to 3,800 vehicles per hour – 63 per minute – pass through this traffic corridor every morning, it notes.
The Grand Harbour roundabout is a particular cause for concern amid an increase in retail and residential development, bringing pedestrians and motorists into closer contact.
The proposals for the four main choke points on the route include:
CUC roundabout – New service road considered key
The roundabout will be reconfigured to a ‘peanut shape’ to add an entry and exit point for a new service road for traffic heading to Red Bay or Grand Harbour.
Even with this, the widening of the highway to three lanes and the addition of a new South Sound bypass before 2036, the report predicts, “traffic congestion at the CUC Roundabout will continue to worsen due to population growth across Grand Cayman”.
The proposals include adding traffic signals and some tweaks to vehicle flow through the roundabout as well as new bus pull-outs, extended sidewalks and new crosswalks.
Time to get rid of Grand Harbour roundabout?
The largest roundabout and most notorious choke point on the route gets the most attention in the report.
Despite several new residential developments on both sides of the highway, the new Harbour Walk plaza and the Grand Harbour shopping centre, the report notes a lack of safe pedestrian crossings through the intersection.
Meanwhile there is no prospect of further widening of the roundabout because of space constraints caused by developments on either side of the intersection.
The report examines multiple different reconfigurations of the roundabout, using a mix of signals, lane restrictions and pedestrian crossings.
The most dramatic idea on the table is getting rid of the roundabout completely and converting it to a two-way stop controlled by traffic lights.
Another option envisages prohibiting access to Grand Harbour from this intersection, with all traffic to the shopping centre and residential neighbourhoods coming via the new service road from the CUC roundabout. The change would mean restricted access to the shopping centre and left turn only from South Sound Road – meaning motorists using that route would need to travel back to the CUC roundabout to perform a U-turn.
New signals for Red Bay and Tomlinson roundabouts
New metered traffic signals to better manage the flow of vehicles through the roundabout are proposed, with the aim of reducing queues from side streets, like Prospect Point Road.
New bus pull-outs and a pedestrian crossing to Red Bay Primary School are included in the wider proposal.
Meanwhile, the Tomlinson roundabout is highlighted as a morning ‘congestion point’ where the East-West Arterial and Shamrock Road converge close to the Lantern Point condos. The report considers adding traffic signals for peak hours only.
Smart traffic lights signal significant improvement
The study projects these changes would significantly improve traffic conditions.
With only road improvements – and no signals – it will take as long as 35 minutes just to get from the Tomlinson roundabout to the Grand Harbour roundabout – a distance of just over one mile – by 2036, according to NRA modelling cited in the report.
That can be reduced to 12 minutes with the reconfiguring of the roundabouts and the addition of smart signals that adjust according to the road conditions, the report indicates.
The NRA is also recommending government consider alternatives to road development to help alleviate traffic. It suggests increases in telecommuting, locating more employment in the eastern districts, restricting vehicle imports, improving public transit, and safe and accessible bike paths, sidewalks and crosswalks.
The public is asked to provide any comments and/or discussion points to [email protected].
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We saw during the pandemic working from homes worked! Government should encourage businesses to allow staff who can work from home even if they had to discount fees by a percentage by the amount of staff they allow to work from home. $200k off fees for 20 staff off the road verses $1m for asphalting and laying 20 yards of new road. It’s not rocket science unless you have to factor in the loss of rental income from office spaces, loss of income for the truckers, asphalt business, etc…
If only successive Govt’s had enforced the Master Ground Transportation Plan put into place in the early seventies by the British Govt surveyors after they completed the CadastraL Survey(which gave all landholders registered titles to their properties ), we would not be in this mess. Extra wide road corridors were surveyed and gazetted extending to all parts of Grand Cayman on the understanding that these corridors would be preserved inviolate until such time as they were needed. The rest is shameful history.
The only sensible way to speed up the traffic is a flyover (overpass) over the Hurley’s roundabout.
This will greatly speed up the traffic heading from George Town to the Eastern districts.
If ALL drivers signalled their turns, all roundabouts would function a lot better. This is money in the bag for Govt since it is an offence not to signal your intention. Police should target a roundabout daily and ticket those persons who do not signal. When you hit people in the pocket, they will succumb!
Just make it a traditional intersection with traffic smart lights. The roundabout needs to go now or it is just going to get worse.
Roundabouts only work when it is not peak hours and they are designed to handle only a certain amount of vehicles rather than 7:00 and 5:30 Traffic At rush hour.
The only solution would be to do GRAND HARBOUR ALT 3: TRADITIONAL SIGNALIZED
INTERSECTION
I know people are saying add a flyover, but that still keeps the roundabout there and we are trying to remove it.