Police to Maintain Presence Along Major Thoroughfares

Commanding Officer of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Traffic and Highway Division, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Calvin Allen says that his team will be maintaining a presence along major thoroughfares in the corporate area, in order to ease the flow of traffic.

SSP Allen told a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of St. Andrew North that the division stands ready to grant whatever assistance is necessary, to facilitate commuters getting around on time.

“By making our presence felt, we expect to reduce the level of indiscipline and we are committed to that even while we operate against the background of our resource constraints,” he stated.

He informed that his team has maintained a presence on Constant Spring Road and pointed out that it is the second most used corridor in the corporate area, second only to Nelson Mandela Highway which has approximately 65,000 vehicles traversing it on a daily basis.

“Constant Spring Road sees somewhere between 46,000 and 48,000 vehicles on a daily basis, so it is important for us to be out there, especially when some of the unruly public passenger vehicle drivers try to get away with untoward behavior like the use of the opposite lane to try to avoid the traffic flow,” SSP Allen said.

“I would like to have similar presence on Hope Road, Red Hills Road, Washington Boulevard and Barbican Road. We are working towards that, but there are some constraints,” he added.

SSP Allen noted that he is mindful of the many challenges that remain on the roadways, such as the indiscipline of motorist.

According to the Traffic Division Head, at least two other situations affect the flow of traffic, one of which is the country’s current vehicular population.

“Over the last five years, the number of vehicles on our roads has basically doubled. As such, there is a peak hour flow right throughout the day. At the same time, we are in the process of bringing our road infrastructure in line with that,” he said. SSP Allen noted that road conditions also affect the flow of traffic and that he is happy for the road repairs that are currently taking place.

“When a vehicle slows down to negotiate a rough area, it affects as many as 100 that may be behind. Many times you are in traffic and wonder what is happening down the road thinking it may be a collision when it is just motorists slowing down in a rough area,” he explained. He expressed confidence that once the road repairs have been completed, there should be a positive effect on traffic in the corporate area.