All (Clogged) Roads Lead to QPO

All roads lead to the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad today and Sunday...if you can get here. Trinidad is well known for its traffic congestion problem, and for taxi driver Imtiaz, the procedures put in place for the final two ODIs against India will make it worst. "You see me, I staying home tomorrow," he said last night.

Indeed, driving down from Long Circular Road this morning, just a stone's throw away from the Oval, the traffic was snarled, with the solitary traffic cop seemingly not being able to direct cars efficiently enough to ease the flow.

True, today is a normal working day in Trinidad so some of the cars may have been on their way to their jobs at 8:30 this morning. Those on their way to cricket had to travel a different route to their destination.

David has been coming to cricket here for years and is accustomed to parking in the King George V Park, located directly behind the North End of the ground. "They directed us to go to the Savannah this year because we could not come down here," he said. It was not a problem for him to get from there to here. "You just walk down the road. It's not far," added a slim and trim David. The rational is that if you play Mas' for carnival, where you are on the roads for hours and cover probably as much as a half marathon, then the 'lil walk aint nuttin'.

Sitting close by in the Learie Constantine Stand is Rupert who said "I walked, and it's a long walk!" Imtiaz had told me about a planned shuttle service to take patrons from the Savannah to the Oval. Last night he was pessimistic that buses would be provided, adding "you know how we Trinis stay." Rupert confirmed that there is in fact a shuttle service, "but it is a big bus and it must be filled before it leaves there and I came very early. I don't like to wait. I'm a very impatient man!"

How early is early? Rupert made the trek from Arima in the East arriving before 5:00 this morning just to avoid the bumper-to-bumper traffic one would normally find on the East-West corridor. "It's India. I expected a large crowd this morning," he rationalized when I questioned the before-dawn start.

The new regulations are in an effort to comply with Cricket World Cup 2007 regulations and the Local Organizing Committee is using the opportunity to introduce change. David has no problem with it. "We have to adhere to regulations. I mean, changes you don't accept readily, but changes are inevitable," he said.

In a booming economy prospering from oil and natural gas, cars are becoming more affordable to all. "You know where the Z series reach?" asked Imtiaz, talking about the speed with which registration plates are processed. Apparently it's fast, very fast. Reconditioned vehicles from Japan are contributing to the affordability factor.

While he is not against people buying cars, Imtiaz feels that the Government needs to address the problem which is already out of control in his opinion. "They need to build more damn roads" he fumed, "otherwise the country going to look like a damn car park!" And don't ask him about the option of train service. "They take out the trains in 1968. Now I hear them talking about bringing it back in. That is just politicians talking," he said.

Take Imtiaz's advice if you decide to travel in for the second game on Sunday. "Don't come in during the day time. I tell everybody to come at night and leave before daylight. Then you sure not to find any traffic," he cautioned.

He did say though that since Sunday isn't a working day, it might not be as bad. I then think to myself "oh dear. I have a 10:00 am flight out of Trinidad...on Monday." Oh well, with a 'lil music, two hours on the Churchill Roosevelt highway won't be so bad?