NWA Implementing Measures To Ease Traffic In Vicinity Of Transport Centre

The National Works Agency (NWA) is implementing measures to ease pedestrian and vehicular traffic in the vicinity of the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre, which will be open tomorrow (Jan. 12).
Outlining the measures to JIS News, Traffic Manager at the NWA, Michael Saunderson, explained that the Derrymore to Constant Spring Road intersection has been transformed from three lanes to four, while South Odeon Avenue will be re-opened.
“We are also improving the sidewalks.all the sidewalks within the immediate proximity of the Transport Centre have been improved all the way down to Maxfield Avenue,” he informed adding that repair work will also be carried out on manholes.
With respect to traffic signals, Mr. Saunderson told JIS News that all traffic lights in and around the centre will be rehabilitated. “We are taking out all the traffic lights on the posts and putting in overhead signals.putting in the overhead street name signs so people will know what street is which,” he disclosed.
In addition, “the lights from Dunrobin Avenue down to Oxford Road will be synchronized and we have a traffic management centre at NWA from which the traffic flow will be monitored via cameras in real time,” the Traffic Manager revealed.
To aid disabled pedestrians, he informed that enunciators for the blind will be installed at the Half-Way-Tree/Hope Road intersection. “So when you get the ‘walk’ to go, it makes an audible sound for blind people to hear,” he explained. Wheelchair ramps will also be put in at the pedestrian crossings. Mr. Saunderson noted that other technologies would be introduced, including an automatic vehicle tracking system on the JUTC buses. This device, he explained, will “allow a dispatcher to look at the map of Kingston and see where a bus is and how fast it is traveling.”
“We will have automatic number plates readers, which will take pictures of your licence plate. so if we have illegal operators, we can programme their number into the system,” he outlined.
In addition, closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras will be installed at the Half -Way Tree and Hope Road, North Odeon Avenue and Eastwood Park Road intersections.
On the matter of energy conservation, Mr. Saunderson informed that the incandescent lamps, which were formerly used in the traffic lights, will be replaced with energy saving ones. “These are more energy efficient,” he pointed out. “They burn about five watts a power compared to 100 watts a power with the incandescent lights, so the energy bill around the centre will be significantly reduced,” he explained.
The energy saving lamps, he elaborated, last five to 10 years, whereas the incandescent lamps last for three months.
The Transport Centre was conceptualized in 1999 to ease the discomfort and indignity that commuters faced daily in the public transportation system.