Work Expected to Commence on 121 Additional SPARK Roads by End of March

Work is expected to commence on an additional 121 roads under the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) road rehabilitation programme by the end of March.

“We will start three more roads before the end of this month. We’re going to be starting 69 roads in February and 49 roads in March,” Minister with Responsibility for Works in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development, Hon. Robert Morgan, detailed during a post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, in Kingston, on Wednesday (January 28).

He noted that work has resumed under the programme following a brief hiatus due to the passage of Hurricane Melissa in October 2025.

The Minister explained that instructions have been given to the main contractor to undertake repairs on 258 roads, and instructions for another 143 roads are expected to be given by the end of March.

“So, by the end of March we would have instructed the contractor to start work on 401 roads,” Mr. Morgan said.
Meanwhile, he pointed out that work has commenced on 84 roads since the SPARK programme started in December 2024.

“So, 84 roads are either finished or under active construction… across the island, there are 56 SPARK roads which have been paved,” Mr. Morgan noted.

He pointed out that while instructions have been issued for work on a number of roads, the commencement of repairs is not immediate.

The process to commence repairs includes a design phase, the mobilisation of equipment and labour, excavation and then rehabilitation.

The Minister noted that while the average SPARK road takes between two to three months to complete, there have been cases where projects have taken up to a year due to issues identified during the rehabilitation process.

“The SPARK standard is a significantly higher standard than other standards. So traditionally, we would spend $20 million per kilometre on a road. Under SPARK, it is $40 to $45 million per kilometre for each road,” Mr. Morgan said.

He noted that contractors are required to meet strict quality benchmarks before completed projects are accepted, followed by a one-year warranty period during which any defects must be repaired at the contractor’s expense.

The Minister added that the main road component of the programme, which will be focused on repairing 63 main roads across the island, is expected to get under way this summer.