Proposed Causeway in the Gulf

Imagine driving from Invader’s Bay to Tembladora with not one taxi (maxi, route, or PH) stopping to pick up or drop passengers every two to three yards, no traffic lights, nothing – barring accidents – to hinder the smooth flow of traffic from East to West, and vice versa. Better still: imagine driving from the Beetham Highway to Chaguaramas with but one traffic light (if that) and only one taxi drop-off and pick-up point (if that). Does it sound like an impossible dream that would cost taxpayers – well, in these oil-and-gas-rich days, the National Treasury – millions of dollars? It’s not, and, should the developers get the go-ahead, could be a dream come true in a few years’ time, and at no cost to the Treasury.

Take a look at the plans for this proposed causeway in the Gulf. It’s been done before, as the photograph of the bridge leading to the airport on a man-made island in Japan clearly shows. In fact globe-trotting Trinis don’t have to go as far as Japan to see similar feats of engineering easing traffic and communication problems. Closest to home is the road from the mainland of Florida linking the Keys. Visitors to next year’s World Cup in Germany might take a side trip to see the Dutch sea defences and the roadway across the mouths of the River Rhine. None are exact copies of what’s being proposed for the causeway to Chag. The causeway/barrier island a mile offshore in the Gulf of Paria would be linked to the mainland by bridges at either end. This massive feat of engineering (as it appears to one who knows very little about such things) involves a scheme to reclaim land along the Gulf Coast from Invaders’ Bay, Cocorite Bay, Cumana Bay and on to Tembladora.

Those who have drawn up this proposal expect the sale of the land they reclaim would cover the cost of the barrier island causeway, the bridges leading to and from the mainland and the reclamation scheme combined because property prices are sky-high in the area where land would be reclaimed from the Gulf. There’s no doubt that it can be done. Imagine, if you can, driving on the bridge out to sea, along the causeway, skirting the Five Islands before heading back to land once more. The causeway road would be a scenic route, a tourist attraction in itself. But what of the Yacht Club, and the fishermen in pirogues? I’m told there would be room for them to pass under the bridges because, where the bridges join the man-made island the proposed causeway road would be about 80 feet above sea level.

However, more is involved in the causeway proposal than access for small boats and the fate of the Yacht Club. Those owning prime waterfront properties won’t be happy to see exclusive condominium towers rising between them and the sea, or a spread of exclusive townhouse developments where once they watched pelicans flapping their homeward way, or fish jumping. Nor does one like to think what might happen to the remnants of the sea grass beds off Westmoorings, that once were so thick and productive — but that would be the price of progress, the price we have to pay for our love affair with the automobile. Only provided, of course, the scheme gets official approval before Udecott’s Port redevelopment project blocks access to a bridge at Invaders’ Bay. Next week: More pros and cons on the causeway and the link to the Beetham. annehilton@rave-tt.net