Improvements Made to Road Infrastructure During 2013

The Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing continued its programme of works, aimed at restoring, maintaining, and building infrastructure, to keep communities connected, and to ensure that Jamaicans travel on roads and bridges deemed safe, and of world standard.

The year closed with the announcement of a major $500 million road rehabilitation programme, by Prime Minister the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller. She informed that $200 million will be spent to patch and repair roads and $130 million on mitigation work and bushing.

Another $51 million is to be spent in some parishes on bushing and drain cleaning; $70 million on river training; and $50 million on replacing manholes and guard rails.

Reconnecting Communities

The Kintyre Bridge in East Rural St. Andrew was officially opened in December. The bridge, which was constructed at a cost of $100 million, is a central route for persons in the communities of Clarke Street, St. Joseph Road, Bedward Pastures, Cosmo Mews, and other areas.

The Westmoreland Bridge in St. Mary was also completed during the year at a cost of US$13.4 million. The structure, which had been closed since the passage of Tropical Storm Gustav in 2008, was reopened to vehicular traffic.

Repair work on the Robin’s Bay Bridge in St. Mary was also completed at a cost of $33 million, while the Jacks River Bridge in the parish was also opened, and the Craig Mill Bridge in Portland, restored.

Over in Clarendon the Crooked River box culvert, and Dawkins Pen Bridge were completed, in addition to the $23.3 million Dover Castle bridge in St. Catherine, which was opened in March.

Work was also completed on the Halls Green Bridge in West Rural St. Andrew.

JEEP/JDIP

Some 300 road rehabilitation projects were carried out under the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP), and the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP), which was wrapped up during the year.

The busy Mountain View Avenue corridor in St. Andrew was resurfaced under the JDIP at a cost of over $200 million. The works included erection of sidewalks, repairs to gully footbridges, and installation of drains.

Work was also carried out on a number of corridors under the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded Transportation Infrastructure Rehabilitation Programme, which is aimed at improving roads affected by Tropical Storm Nicole in 2010.

A major corridor among these is the Red Hills to Santa Maria (Rock Hall Road), where work is being undertaken in three sections: Red Hills to Santa Maria; Santa Maria to Sligoville; and Sligoville to Bog Walk. The work on sections from the Red Hills to Santa Maria is substantially completed, while work on the segment from Bog Walk to Sligoville is being carried out.

In Westmoreland, work was also carried out on the main road from the Ferris Cross to Belmont, and Scottscove, through a $1.4 billion effort. The Ferris to Belmont segment is now complete.

Lawrence Tavern

Road rehabilitation works along the Lawrence Tavern main road in St. Andrew were was also completed through a $60 million allocation from the Ministry’s Hurricane Sandy Road Rehabilitation Programme.

Approximately $34 million in works was also done in the Mount Ogle community in St. Andrew to facilitate vehicular traffic. A large part of the road had broken away during the passage of Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.

Enfield Main Road

The eight-kilometre Enfield main road in St. Mary, which serves the communities of May River and Sue River, among other districts, was resurfaced and drainage and other supporting infrastructure constructed at a cost of $92 million.

River Training

The government ensured protection of the Dry River Bridge, in Harbour View, through river training works. The bridge was constructed by the National Works Agency (NWA) at a cost of approximately US$8.9 million under the IDB’s Loan 2026 Rehabilitation Programme. River training works continued at the Hope River in Yallahs, St. Thomas, as well as in St. Mary.

Additionally, major sea defence work was carried out along the North Coast, particularly in Portland (Orange Bay and Blueberry Hill), and in St. Mary.

Gully Works
Meanwhile, several gullies in the Corporate Area were rehabilitated. Most notable is the Sandy Gully and its tributaries, where works were carried out under a more than $2 billion Caribbean Development Bank-financed programme.

In St. James, the North Gully received some attention amounting to $27 million. Major works were also done to reinforce the Junction to Castleton Road, spanning St. Andrew and St. Mary.

Road Patching

The NWA engaged spray patching crews to carry out significant work across the island, augmented by the hotmix patching programme. A $200 million patching programme has been rolled out across Kingston and St. Andrew, and other areas across the country, to address poor road conditions in some areas.