GUARD RAIL: A pack of boonie dogs is seen under a guard rail along Route 10 on Nov. 8, 2021 in Mangilao. The Department of Public Works is seeing a shortage of supplies of traffic safety materials such as guard rails. David Castro/ The Guam Daily Post

GUARD RAIL: A pack of boonie dogs is seen under a guard rail along Route 10 on Nov. 8, 2021 in Mangilao. The Department of Public Works is seeing a shortage of supplies of traffic safety materials such as guard rails. David Castro/ The Guam Daily Post

Major supply issues affecting the Department of Public Works have to do with guard rails, traffic markers and road paint pellets.

"That's coming from private contractors that we have on board," DPW Director Vince Arriola told lawmakers during a budget hearing last week.   

Sen. Joe San Agustin, the chairman of the legislative committee on appropriations, wanted to know why it took "so long" to repair or replace road guard rails damaged during vehicle crashes. The issue stems back to before Arriola's time at the agency, the senator acknowledged, but it has been brought to his attention by many constituents, he added.

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"The rails take forever to be repaired. If they're being paid already by insurance or by the motorists themselves, why does it take so long to get them replaced?" San Agustin said.

Arriola couldn't place an exact number on how many times insurance claims were brought for damaged guard rails, but he estimated it to be below 50%. That could be due to a number of factors, including the motorists not having insurance, he added. The crash could have also been due to cases of driving while intoxicated, which is not covered by most, if not all, insurance companies, Arriola said.

He also told lawmakers that as part of their funding from the Federal Highway Administration, DPW has engaged in an indefinite-quantity contract with a company to replace guard rails. 

"Their biggest issue is they can't get guard rails. It's one of these production issues in the mainland U.S.A. that came as a result of COVID. The three biggest supply issues we're having issues with (is) guard rails, traffic markers, and pellets for road paint," Arriola said. "But in terms of your specific question with regard to guard rails, we are doing everything we can to make sure that if they are damaged by a car accident ... we have all the information to make adequate claims for that."

San Agustin also wanted to know if guard rails could be made with rubber padding to soften the impact of a car crash and potentially increase the chance of survival. He also noted that there are areas on Guam in need of guard rails, adding that the Legislature needs to know what it can do to help DPW achieve these initiatives.

The senator further expressed concern over a lack of visibility for road markings.

"If it rains hard enough on Guam, we can't even see the markers," San Agustin said. 

Arriola said reflector markers would help with driving at night in the rain, but DPW is having difficulty procuring them because they are "just not available."

"We have to wait for production to ramp up, and it's a nationwide thing. We have the funds for it. Once they're available and the vendor has those available, we will procure them," Arriola said, adding that DPW will also place rubber padded barriers in their designs moving forward. 

"I know we had them in some areas, like in the overpass. I think they were there in the beginning and after two accidents, they were damaged and never replaced. So, we have to do a better job of getting them replaced," Arriola said. 

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