Major repair on Cascade road affects traffic flow |31 May 2013

As of Wednesday this week, the Seychelles Land Transport Agency (SLTA) has imposed restrictions on vehicular traffic in the area which has been declared a strict “no parking” and “no waiting” zone. Access is limited to vehicles of less than 10 tonnes loading capacity, meaning that heavy trucks, earth-moving machines as well as over 50-seater buses travelling between Providence and the airport will have no alternative but to use the Providence Highway.

The SLTA is at the same time seeking the cooperation of the public, calling upon drivers to be cautious or as much as possible make use of alternative routes.
As some operations of the Seychelles Public Transport Cooperation (SPTC) are being directly affected by the measures, the company has been informed, through its communications manager Bernadette Soffola, of alternative temporary services as of Wednesday. While small and medium capacity buses will continue to operate via Cascade, all high capacity or over 50-seater buses travelling between the airport and the Providence junction will go via the Providence Highway.

Consequently, the SPTC will operate a free return shuttle service between the airport and Providence, from 6am to 8.30pm, for commuters travelling to and from the Cascade area. For that purpose, the Cascade Church junction and the district’s market will be used as temporary bus stops or turnaround terminals.

Though post-secondary students travelling to Anse Royale will also make use of the shuttle service and board or get off their designated school bus at the airport bus stop, the transfer schedule will be maintained for Cascade pupils attending Pointe Larue secondary school. The service will be provided by two buses – one travelling from the Cascade market to the school and back via the Providence Highway, and the other directly from the Church junction.

Talking about the reason behind the soon to begin repair work at Cascade, SLTA’s projects director, Wilbert Herminie, said routine checks which are systematically carried out on all bridges in the country have revealed that the structure of the one at Cascade has over the years sustained important damages.

“The bridge was rebuilt more than 15 years ago, so is now at the end of its life span. Moreover, the bad weather and heavy rains which hit the eastern part of Mahé in February this year have also contributed to the degradation of the structure,” Mr Herminie said.

He said that renovation work to be carried out on the bridge include installing concrete decking slides as well as repairing its side walls.

As the slides will be built off site, the SLTA expects them to be assembled very quickly, estimating that once the project starts in about two weeks’ time, it will be over in two to three months, that is by the end of August this year.

It is expected that apart from improving the structure of the Cascade bridge, the remedial work will also increase its load bearing capacity and allow for a better flow of the Cascade river which ends its course and meets the ocean at exactly the same spot.