Port of Spain has busy roads for many hours of the day, and traffic can slow your plans if you follow the main routes. This can happen when you rush to a meeting or try to reach a spot before sunset. It also happens after a long flight when you only want a calm drive. Renting a car in Trinidad and Tobago helps you move with freedom, but you still need smart choices in the city. In this Port of Spain traffic guide, you will learn about the safer and faster roads to avoid long jams.
Port of Spain is a bustling capital city with limited main roads and thousands of vehicles. Traffic moves in waves that are easy to predict. The busiest times are in the morning and afternoon when people are going to and from work. During these times, the roads that connect the suburbs to downtown are the busiest.
Driving in Trinidad's capital can take a long time. An average commuter spends about 33 days a year stuck in traffic. In fact, travel during the morning rush hour (6:00 to 9:00 am) and late afternoon (3:00 to 6:00 pm) encounters delays of more than 50 minutes on major routes. What does this mean for travellers? Whenever you can, plan around the busiest times. Travel before dawn or after dusk, or take a break during those busy times. Weekdays from 6 to 8 a.m. into the city and 3 to 6 p.m. out of the city are the busiest times to drive.
The downtown core around Independence Square – Port of Spain’s central boulevard – often has jams even outside rush hour. This is where many main streets converge, and it’s always filled with taxis, buses, and pedestrians. Another choke point is the ring road around the Queen's Park Savannah, the large park in the city. During peak periods, vehicles encircle the Savannah bumper-to-bumper in what locals call the “world’s biggest roundabout.” If there’s an event or even regular evening traffic, the Savannah loop can slow to a crawl.
The primary routes into Port of Spain include the Beetham Highway and the Audrey Jeffers/Western Main Road from the west. The Beetham Highway is busy during weekdays. It connects the airport and eastern towns straight to Port of Spain. At 8 am on a workday, it’s often bumper-to-bumper all the way into the city.
Trinidad has a high rate of car ownership, with approximately one vehicle for every two people, and the roads haven’t expanded significantly in decades. Additionally, aggressive driving and failure to enforce traffic laws can exacerbate delays. Drivers might squeeze into any space, change lanes quickly, or stop without warning. Some areas have few signs and few working traffic lights, so stay alert and drive carefully.
Even so, local drivers have their own unwritten rules. If you wait long enough, you'll start to figure out the flow. Keep in mind that the weather can also affect traffic. For example, heavy rain can cause flooding on the streets, and accidents or breakdowns can bring traffic to a standstill. Before you leave, always check the news or radio for any major events.
These alternative roads in Port of Spain can save you time. They might be a bit longer or winding, but they usually have less traffic. Below are some of the key routes and shortcuts locals use to get around bottlenecks:
This is a well-known scenic bypass that drivers use to avoid the crowded Eastern Main Road and highway approach from the east. Lady Young Road winds over the hills through Morvant and drops you near the Queen’s Park Savannah on the north side of the city. It’s a mountain road that serves as a scenic shortcut into Port of Spain. If the Beetham Highway is at a standstill coming into town, you can exit and loop up to Lady Young Road. Many visitors also love this route for its panorama at Lady Young Lookout, but note that it is winding and steep in parts. Lady Young Road connects to the Eastern Main Road at Barataria.
Before the modern highway existed, this was the principal road from eastern towns into Port of Spain. The Eastern Main Road (EMR) runs parallel to the Churchill–Roosevelt Highway for much of the way. It passes through local communities such as Barataria, Laventille, and Morvant, and eventually flows into downtown. Because it passes through busy neighbourhoods with traffic lights, it’s slower than the highway on a good day. However, when the highway is blocked due to an accident or flooding, the Eastern Main Road can be a lifesaver to keep moving. It’s also useful if you want to avoid highway speeds or make stops along the way.
Running just south of the Eastern Main Road for much of the East-West Corridor, the PBR is a special roadway reserved for buses and authorized vehicles. It was built along an old railway line and provides a straight shot for public transit between Port of Spain and Arima. However, drivers are not allowed to use the Priority Bus Route without a permit. Police do enforce this, and fines are hefty. At certain off-peak times or during emergencies, authorities sometimes open the PBR to regular traffic, but don’t count on this. For visitors, consider the PBR off-limits. Stick to the Eastern Main or highway instead.
To avoid congestion on the Western Main Road or the downtown entry, locals often slip through smaller residential streets. For example, if you’re coming from the western suburbs like Diego Martin into Port of Spain and you hit traffic in St. James, you can detour onto Long Circular Road or Bombay Street, which loops around the busy main strip.
Long Circular Road arcs from St. James around to the Maraval area, bypassing some choke points on Western Main Road. Similarly, in Woodbrook, there is a grid of parallel streets like Tragarete Road, Ariapita Avenue, and Park Street. These side streets have lower speed limits and more junctions, but they let you skirt around traffic on the main arteries. It’s a bit of a maze if you’re new, so use a good map and watch for one-way signs.
If your journey involves the northern parts of Port of Spain or nearby valleys, you might use Maraval Road, which heads north from the Queen’s Park Savannah, and Saddle Road beyond that. Maraval Road is a primary route, but it leads to Saddle Road, which crosses over the mountains to Santa Cruz. While not exactly an “alternative” to a city road, Saddle Road is worth mentioning as it can connect east and north without going through downtown.
For instance, someone coming from the east via Eastern Main Road could cut through the Santa Cruz valley and over Saddle Road to emerge at Maraval, bypassing Port of Spain’s center entirely. This is a longer detour and only practical for specific trips. If the eastern approach to the city is totally jammed, you can drive around the outskirts using roads like Saddle Road. It’s out of the way, but it can be faster than gridlock. Keep in mind, Saddle Road is narrow and winding in the hills.
Driving efficiently in Port of Spain isn’t just about individual roads – it’s about combining them into smart routes. By planning driving routes in Port of Spain with a bit of strategy, you can often stay on the move while others sit in jams. Here we’ll discuss a few common route strategies and how you can optimize your journey through the city.
One helpful way to save time is to avoid the downtown area. If your destination is not in the city centre, try driving around it instead of going through it. For example, think about a drive from the east, near the airport, to the west side of Port of Spain. The usual way is to take the highway straight into downtown and then cross over. During rush hour, this can be very slow.
A better option is to leave the highway earlier and take a road that goes around the north side. You can drive on the Churchill–Roosevelt Highway to the Barataria area, then use Lady Young Road to reach the Queen’s Park Savannah. From there, you continue west. This helps you skip the heavy traffic at the city’s eastern entrance. You enter Port of Spain from the north, which is often faster than the main east-west path during busy times.
Within the city, try to learn the simple grid of streets. Downtown Port of Spain has many one-way roads that run in straight lines. If Wrightson Road, the main road by the waterfront, is slow when you leave the city, consider moving a few blocks north. Instead of sitting in traffic on Wrightson, you can turn into the city and use Ariapita Avenue or Park Street to drive west through Woodbrook. After that, you can join the main road again. These inside roads have traffic lights and lower speed limits.
If you are driving from the outer areas into the city during busy times, try using roads that enter the centre at an angle. For example, if you come from the northwest, you can drive over the hill from Maraval into St. Ann’s instead of using the main road. This might mean using Lady Chancellor Road or other steep roads.
From the south or southwest, many drivers use the Foreshore or Audrey Jeffers Highway to reach the city. If this road is congested, consider using an alternative route, such as Union Road in Cocorite. Always find one way to get to your destination. Navigation tools can give you options, but do not follow them blindly. Use your own judgment when passing through the areas you encounter.
Finally, consider timing as part of your route. Sometimes the best way to avoid traffic is not to take a different road, but to take a different time. If you can drive on Sunday morning, for example, you’ll find even the typically chaotic Downtown streets to be quiet. Plan any cross-city trips for off-peak hours when possible. And if you get caught in the 5pm exodus, it might be better to pull over at a café on Ariapita Avenue for an hour and let the traffic die down.
This driving guide in Trinidad shows that Port of Spain is easier to explore when you know the roads, alternative routes, and best times to drive. Think of it like learning strategies that locals use every day. With these tips, you can enjoy your trip, avoid long jams, and feel more confident behind the wheel.
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