Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am informed that in 2015, the Road Development Authority (RDA) commissioned a traffic study with a view to reviewing traffic scheme in Port Louis so as to alleviate the current severe traffic condition along the motorway. It was observed that one of the main bottlenecks was at the Place d’Armes intersection which serves as the amin entry and exit point for both Northbound and Southbound traffic.

74 Further to the recommendation of the study, the Decaen Flyover Project was implemented in 2018 which connects Motorway M1 to A1 Road in front of Line Barracks to provide for a second entry point to the city centre for traffic coming from the South. Various traffic schemes have been implemented by the RDA as an integral part of the Decaen Flyover to alleviate traffic congestion as follows – 1) Reconfiguration of the junction at Place d’Armes by eliminating the right turning movement to the North. This movement towards the North via M2 was prohibited to ensure a better traffic fluidity for the main stream traffic along the motorway for the Northbound and Southbound traffic; 2) Following the aforementioned traffic restraint, traffic are now using alternative routes to exit the city centre to proceed towards the North via M2 as follows – (i) Left turning exit at Place d’Armes on Motorway M1. The U-turn at Caudan roundabout to the North (turning to the left roundabout then going to the North). (ii) Royal Street-Nicolay Road-Military Road (the connection) to eventually join Motorway M2 through new Quay D interchange. (iii) Brown Sequard Street via Orlean Street and Deschartres Street via Caudan roundabout and slip lane towards Motorway M2; (iv) Brown Sequard Street-Orlean Street-d’Entrecasteaux Street - A1 Road- Colonel Sandapa Street-Caudan Roundabout and then the slip lane towards Motorway M2. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, prior to the implementation of the Decaen Project and the extension of the metro line to the Place d’Armes Metro station, there were five lanes in the Northbound direction with three through-lanes towards the North and two right turning lanes towards the city centre. There were two lanes in the Southbound direction. With this consideration, the capacity of the motorway at this particularly junction was adequate to cater for high traffic volume during peak hours for both through and turning movements. Currently, there are only two through-lanes for movement towards the North and only one right turning lane towards the city centre, while the lane configuration towards the South has remained unchanged. This is because of the Metro Express Project. It has consumed space on the motorway. This has decreased, therefore, the capacity for moving traffic from five lanes to three lanes along the Northbound carriageway.

75 With this reduction in lane configuration from five lanes to three lanes, there has been a considerable decrease in the overall junction capacity, for both through and right turning movements. From a traffic management point of view, the new road configuration has reduced capacity and restoring the right turning movement towards the North will critically impact upon the performance of Place d’Armes junction, resulting in longer traffic queues and considerable traffic delays for traffic along M1 and M2. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, therefore, from the foregoing, reverting to the old configuration is now not feasible.

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