70 Roads Identified for Repairs under SPARK Programme So Far

Approximately 70 roads identified during consultations on the Shared Prosperity Through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) Programme have been referred to the National Works Agency (NWA) to be scoped and costed.

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, made the disclosure during a statement in the House of Representatives on May 21.

He noted that community consultations have commenced to ensure the participation of citizens in determining the roads to be targeted within constituencies.

To date, meetings have been held in nine constituencies in Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon, and St. Elizabeth.

“The consultations have been well attended, with constituents providing valuable input on local/community road infrastructure to be rehabilitated. We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from residents, local businesses and stakeholders, who have expressed their appreciation for involving them in the decision-making process and addressing their concerns directly,” the Prime Minister said.

It is expected that consultations will be undertaken in at least nine constituencies per week, he noted.

The SPARK programme is allocated $40 billion, which is divided equally between main roads under the jurisdiction of the National Works Agency (NWA) and secondary and community roads that are under the control of the municipal authorities or the NWA.

The programme is to be implemented over a two-year period, and works will include pavement resurfacing/rehabilitation, sidewalk rehabilitation, drainage improvements, waterline improvements, retaining wall construction and intersection improvement at strategic locations.

The Prime Minister told the House that the municipal corporations, through the Local Government and Community Development Ministry, are now mapping all their roads.

“They are currently actively mapping the roads by constituency and have mapped approximately 62 per cent of the entire road network. This would include the NWA and parochial roads. The level of work required to create a meaningful register of our roads is far more involved than initially estimated,” Mr. Holness said.

He noted that the mapping exercise involves more than just measuring the length and width of roads.

“We are conducting a ground-truthing exercise utilising the ArcGIS system where we, onsite, verify and establish the length and width of… sidewalks, drainage, culverts, road furniture (guardrails, stoplights) and road condition and geolocating most of these features,” he pointed out.

Mr. Holness said that through the process, Jamaica will, for the first time in decades, have an up-to-date and comprehensive database of roads, which will serve as a powerful planning tool for the Government to determine the estimated useful life remaining on a road, the repairs required and any potential threats to its viability.

“The intention of the Administration is to put in place a long-term strategy to manage the maintenance of our roads. The local roads component of the SPARK programme will be designed to have an engineering lifespan depending on location, environmental conditions, and usage of between seven to 15 years,” Mr. Holness said.

He noted that for the SPARK roads and all others to be rehabilitated, “we will be able to align engineering data with financial allocations to ensure that our roadways remain is a state of good repair”.

“We will get to the point where we can programme our budget years in advance based on the data we have on our roads. We can reliably plan a repair schedule in advance instead of budgeting after road failure has taken place,” Mr. Holness said.