Things that make me steups

Almost daily, something develops in this city and environs that makes no sense. The only response from someone like me who refuses to pollute the atmosphere with expletives is a long, dry steups. It is the only way, given some of the nonsense I regularly encounter, to dispel the disgust and frustration that builds up inside me and needs to be expelled.

The other day, for example, Maraval Road made me steups. It is one of the many roads in this country I wish I could completely avoid but my daughter attends school there, so I have no choice.

Now dropping off a child at any school in this country requires extreme patience since most parents want to drop their offspring directly in front the school gate and don’t care who they block and how much traffic they cause in the process. Some will even stop in the middle of the road with their vehicle in a position that brings traffic to a complete halt in every direction.

This is regularly the case on Maraval Road, where Newtown Girls’ and Newtown Boys’ RC are located practically next door to each other. Now one would think that the St Patrick’s RC churchyard, located between the two schools, would ease the congestion since it serves as a turn around point for vehicles dropping off children at both schools. Not so. In fact, quite a few extremely insensitive motorists frequently block the entrance to the churchyard.

Now the traffic authorities, in some well meaning but misguided efforts to fix that chaotic situation, have been experimenting unsuccessfully with the traffic flow along Maraval Road.

When my daughter first started school there in September 2005, the traffic was one-way from Queens Park West to Tragarete Road. Then some bright spark decided that didn’t work and, without sufficient advance warning, made the road two-way. STEUPS! Talk about chaos and confusion! One weekday morning, I was driving along what I thought to be a one-way street — with plenty congestion caused by the usual disorderly parking on both sides of the street — when I was confronted with a vehicle headed straight toward me in what I thought was the wrong direction. It took me quite a while to realise that the road had been converted to two-way.

Of course, I wasn’t the only motorist taken by surprise that morning. That said, I don’t need to tell you the number of road rage incidents, cuss-outs and unsavoury incidents that occurred along that road in the days immediately following that sudden change.

The traffic congestion, which was bad enough to start with, became much, much worse. At peak hours driving in any direction, particularly in the vicinity of the schools, was like swimming against the tide.

Now this one calls for the longest, driest steups a true Trinbagonian can muster. Hear this piece of foolishness. Two weeks ago, the traffic mismanagers “catch a fresh vaps” and change around Maraval Road again! This time, they decide the traffic should be one-way from Tragarete Road to Queens Park West.

In their typical, inefficient fashion, they didn’t even bother to give motorists adequate advance warning.

They just changed around the signs overnight and posted some policemen along the road to stop people from driving the wrong way.

That Monday morning, I turned unto Marli Street fully expecting that I would be able to make the left turn unto Maraval Road. Instead, I encountered traffic and a policeman at the corner who was making all the vehicles turn right. I had to end up taking a circuitous route to get to Tragarete Road, then back up Maraval Road to Newtown Girls’.

The policemen only stayed around to enforce this new one-way arrangement for two days. After that, it was total disorder on Maraval Road.

The road is supposed to be one-way from 6 am to 6 pm but, as is typical in this country, in the absence of law enforcement, motorists are doing what they please. At peak hours, the gridlock is unbearable, with some motorists insisting on driving in the wrong direction, uncaring of the confusion and congestion they cause.

This is just one road, one example, one of the many examples of traffic mismanagement which makes driving in this country, particularly around Port-of-Spain, an extreme test of patience and restraint.

Steups and double steups! And they keep mammaguying us with Vision 2020 old talk.

(ssheppard@newsday.co.tt)