Eccles to Diamond four-lane highway to be commissioned next month – Min. Croal

The Eccles to Diamond four-lane highway on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) is scheduled to be officially opened in December, Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal announced recently.

The road, stretching from the Eccles Dumpsite Road to Diamond, was constructed at a cost of $13.3 billion.

“[The road] will be open by the second week of December. Initially, it was from Eccles to Great Diamond, and then we extended it from Great Diamond to Diamond [Housing Scheme]…So that will be the stretch that will be commissioned,” Minister Croal told the Department of Public Information (DPI).

The project was awarded to 12 contractors in December 2021, with an estimated timeline of 18 months. It includes the construction of more than 30 reinforced concrete bridges, two roundabouts, and a total of 9.4 kilometres of reinforced concrete road.

The first phase of the four-lane road, from Mandela Avenue to Eccles Road, was commissioned last year, and a total of $2.6 billion was invested in the initial phase of the project.

In September this year, President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali commissioned the Eccles/Haags Bosch roundabout which connects the Mandela Avenue to Eccles stretch of the road.

That roundabout connects four areas- Georgetown, Ogle (East Coast Demerara), Eccles and Peter’s Hall (East Bank Demerara).

Contracts totalling $11 billion have already been awarded to advance the thoroughfare from Diamond to Buzz Bee Dam, Craig.

President Ali has affirmed that the project will extend beyond Buzz Bee Dam, Craig, ultimately reaching the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.