For several hours the flow of traffic was severely hampered on Friday afternoon, July 25, causing much congestion at the western end of the island. It resulted when a concrete truck carrying a load of a ready-mixed concrete, to one of the tourism projects, overturned in the Lower South Hill area after colliding with a utility pole.

Damaged vehicle being removed by crane

The mangled vehicle, said to be a write-off, is owned by Pat-Ban Heavy Equipment. The driver, Bute Osbourne, who is approaching 40 years, was treated at the Princess Alexandra Hospital for injuries he sustained and was discharged later in the day.

The truck, which eventually separated from its concrete-mixing tank, was lifted from the road side by the biggest crane on the island owned by Asthrom (Anguilla) Limited, the construction company at the Temenos/Flag Project.

Scene of the overturned truck at Lower South Hill

While the wrecked vehicle was being removed, a team from the Anguilla Electricity Company was busily engaged in planting a new utility pole to restore the power supply and other services to the surrounding areas.

This coordinated work to remove the road blockage, and restore utility services as quickly as possible (although the progress was relatively slow), was seen by onlookers as a commendable effort.

Scene of the overturned truck at Lower South Hill

The problem, however, was the heavy traffic congestion and the difficulty of motorists to find a way out. Some instinctively drove into what appeared to have been a nearby feeder road to the west only to discover that it led to private property and a dead end.

Motorists east and west of the accident scene, assisted by the police, were obliged to turn around and use the narrow and winding dirt road through Skiffles to get where they were going.

The driver

It was a most difficult experience for drivers on the dusty and hot track, with long lines of vehicles ahead and behind them (including concrete trucks and other heavy equipment) inching their way in opposite directions, avoiding scraping each other and the extending brittle of the over-growth. Arguments even broke out between impatient motorists. What is usually a short-cut to get to the main road in a few minutes, took almost an hour to cross over.

Traffic jam at detour road at Skiffles

Observers say that the traffic congestion, with workers and others traveling to and fro on the arterial road, has brought into focus a need to have a disaster preparedness plan for the area whereby there is a network of escape routes for motorists in case of a similar big accident.

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