Severe gridlock triggered by the ongoing closure of Domineestraat for rehabilitation works has forced the Suriname Police Corps to implement a series of emergency traffic adjustments to ease travel disruptions across central Paramaribo.
When construction kicked off on Domineestraat this Monday, downtown Paramaribo and its primary access arteries immediately became choked with long, persistent queues. Originally, the Ministry of Public Works and Spatial Planning had announced the rehabilitation project would take four weeks to complete, but officials now project the work will wrap up in roughly half that time, just two weeks from the start date.
To address the crippling congestion, additional police officers have been deployed to the city’s busiest intersections, and a pre-existing traffic plateau on Keizerstraat, located near its crossing with Zwartenhovenbrugstraat, has been temporarily removed in a bid to improve flow through the city center. Daily patrols are being carried out by three specialized police units — the Motor Surveillance Service (MSD), the Paramaribo Motor Brigade, and the Bikers Unit — which are stationed at key strategic points across the capital. Officers are actively directing traffic at the most congested intersections and intervening quickly to resolve unexpected disruptions as they arise.
According to Inspector Iwan Joekoe, head of the Bikers Unit, the measures have already yielded modest improvements to traffic conditions, as confirmed by the Suriname Communication Service. “Rush hours remain extremely crowded, but outside peak travel windows, traffic is moving far more smoothly than it did immediately after the road closure,” Joekoe explained. He and other officials have issued guidance to road users, urging them to prioritize alternative routes whenever possible and consider parking their vehicles outside of the downtown area to cut down on unnecessary through traffic in the congested zone.
MSD head Inspector Reguillio Tirtojoso noted that police had collaborated to develop a comprehensive traffic management plan ahead of the start of construction work. During the planning phase, teams mapped all potential high-risk congestion points and made the decision to reallocate extra personnel to those trouble spots ahead of time. The Keizerstraat traffic plateau was flagged early as a major barrier to efficient traffic movement, leading to the decision to remove it temporarily for the duration of the Domineestraat works.
Tirtojoso identified three intersections as the current hardest-hit locations: Zwartenhovenbrugstraat/Keizerstraat, Keizerstraat/Fred Derbystraat, and Fred Derbystraat/Sophie Redmondstraat. For drivers heading southbound through the city, officials strongly recommend taking alternate routes via Fred Derbystraat and Waterkant to avoid the worst delays.
As of now, the police have not found sufficient reason to convert any existing roads to temporary one-way traffic to ease flow. However, officials confirmed that the traffic situation will be re-evaluated on a daily basis for the entire duration of the Domineestraat rehabilitation project, with additional adjustments implemented if needed to keep traffic moving.
The accelerated construction timeline means drivers and commuters will only have to navigate the adjusted traffic arrangements for a short period, with full access to Domineestraat expected to be restored much earlier than initially projected.