by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - Hoping to alleviate the traffic trauma, motorists are experiencing along major arteries in the Barrigada and Sinajana area, a meeting was held this morning aimed at finding solutions to lessen the road rage. A meeting of the minds was held at Adelup this morning to discuss road construction projects that have left motorists seeing delays of up to a half-hour, especially in the aforementioned central villages.

Representatives from Public Works, the Federal Highway Division, and the Guam Police met with the acting to discuss alternatives to end the traffic nightmare. DPW Director Jess Garcia said, "We're looking at different options; there's one option right across Benbea Apartments and the other option would be by the post office."

Other options on the table include construction work at night, but that will come with a cost. "It's in the contract contractors are allowed to do work at night, its at the government's request. Should we order them to do so it would be a significant impact to the contract and the price," added Garcia.

At least one alternative was set in motion this morning: weekdays between 6-9am, left turns are prohibited from Chalan Canton Tutuhan in Sinajana to allow for a non-stop green light for motorists heading towards Hagatna on Route 4. Public Works advises motorists coming from Sinajana village traveling on Chalan Canton Tutuhan wishing to turn left on Route 4 towards Hagatna will be diverted to Pale Kiernan Drive near the Sinajana Payless.

To ensure the rules are being abided by, DPW and contractor personnel will be on-site to direct traffic. Other options under consideration are bypass lanes, and a change in government hours of operation from 9am-6pm to allow for a lighter traffic flow.

Governor's Deputy Chief of Staff Shawn Gumataotao tells KUAM News, "There's a lot of things as a government we need to ensure that we are checking on: the landowners, also the governor will engage the military command who is impacted by this, as a government we are also going to speak to our directors to see what happens to delivery of services in the general area. Again, what we want to do is be mindful of inter island commerce - the route 8/10/16 intersection does intersects to other corridors, and we want to make sure those aren't impacted."