Road Patching Underway In Westmoreland

There will be significant improvement in road conditions in Westmoreland soon, as a major road patching programme is underway in the parish.

The work is being undertaken under the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP) at a cost of some $87 million.

Some of the roads being worked on are: Torrington to Pennycooke; Gooden’s River Bridge to Glasgow; Bog to Content; and Hopeton to Auchindown. 

At the same time, significant improvement work is being carried out on the Barham to Strawberry and Hartford to Flower Hill roadways under different programmes.

Minister of State for Transport, Works and Housing, Hon. Richard Azan, toured the parish yesterday (Oct. 18), to view the progress of the work and also assess conditions following the recent heavy rains. He said that in “some areas we had to hold a little bit because of the rain.”

He informed that a special estimate is being put together for work to be carried out in the Whitehouse area, which is prone to flooding.

In the meantime, the State Minister said a new bridge will be built at Smithfield, to replace the existing one-lane structure, which is eroding.

“Tenders are in and the contract will be awarded very shortly for construction of that bridge,” he said.