Africa-Press – Mauritius. The Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Alan Ganoo, effected a site visit, today, in Montebello, for the construction of an arrester bed along Motorway M1 at Soreze/Montebello.
Officers from the Traffic Management and Road Safety Unit (TMRSU), the Road Development Authority, as well as other stakeholders were also present on this occasion.
The objective of the site visit was to investigate into the possibility of constructing the arrester bed along this segment of Motorway M1 with a view to improve road safety.
In a statement after the visit, the Minister pointed out that the project, to the tune of Rs 30-40 million, is in line with the vision of Government to reduce the number of killed and serious injury crashes due to road accidents.
He highlighted that currently, in cases of brake failures, heavy vehicles such as lorries and buses have no alternative means of slowing down along the steep slope of the northbound carriageway at Soreze/Montebello.
The construction of this arrester bed, Mr Ganoo added, will help in slowing down and stopping heavy vehicles that encounter brake failures or any other related issues, thus reducing the number of fatalities on our roads.
Furthermore, Minister Ganoo underscored that arrester beds are very common internationally and are constructed in a variety of ways, notably surfaced with sand, river gravel or crushed gravel.
The arrester bed, that will act as an escape route in cases of brake failures, will be a side road one, based on a hybrid system with a mixture of inclined ramps and wire net systems, among others, he added.
The Minister reiterated that saving the lives of people and road safety should be a matter of concern for each and everyone. In this context, the TMRSU, through the scientific and technical study of the road and traffic system, can contribute in finding ways of doing so, Mr Ganoo underlined.
