Residents of Prior Park, St James, are set to see significant improvements in their local infrastructure as a long-awaited road resurfacing project nears completion, Minister of Transport and Works, Santia Bradshaw, has said.
Following a site visit to assess the progress of the ongoing roadworks, which have faced delays due to necessary water main replacements and challenging weather conditions, Bradshaw, along with supervisory consultants Marc Atwell of CO Williams Construction and Craig Archer of Stonebridge Construction, provided an update on the project.
“A number of wells have actually gone into the area, to upgrade the issues of the flooding that has been experienced by residents over the years. Today we are for the first time being able to pave the area starting from the stretch by Redman’s village and making our way towards the roundabout in Prior Park,” the minister said.
“There are some additional works that will be done in the actual roundabout over the course of the next couple of weeks, and they will continue. Along the westerly side of Prior Park to be able to complete the paving along that section.”
The work at the Redman Village junction will also address safety concerns, particularly the bollards that have frequently fallen onto the road. “I know a number of residents and certainly myself have complained about the bollards being constantly down in the road. That is part of the project as well and will be addressed over the course of the next few weeks, to be able to make sure that that junction is much safer than it currently is and to ensure that the full improvements are brought to this particular area here at Prior Park.”
The project is funded by the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) and is expected to be completed within the current financial year.
The minister also highlighted other upcoming projects: “We have a number of other projects ongoing at Risk Road, and Shop Hill is about to start very shortly, the first phase of Shop Hill, and we also have Cane Garden to Bridgefield that will follow shortly after.”
She also gave an update on roadworks in St Thomas, with one project recently completed. “You would have heard a few months ago as well that we were in the process in the Saint Thomas area of refurbishing the road at the Hangman Hill area, and those works have been completed by both Infra Construction and CO Williams to date, making the access road a bit smoother so that when we begin the road at Shop Hill. That we are able to have the necessary diversions.
“For the residents of Saint Thomas and persons traversing that area, Risk Road in Saint Thomas will also be completed very shortly. I think they’re about 98 per cent complete, and paving in that area will begin very shortly.”
Marc Atwell, general manager of CO Williams Construction, acknowledged some challenges the team faced during the process due to inclement weather conditions.
“We started in the height of the wet season. I think we made good progress, that being considered. The last challenge we faced, because we were hoping to get the first 500 metres paid before Christmas was the base of the road itself in that section. Even though we had carried out testing prior to construction, obviously a test pit is very localised.”
He explained: “When we stripped that base off, we realised there was a lot of mud and clays underneath the road, and they along with the ministry instructed us to fully excavate that out again for the longevity of the road, so you don’t have to be coming back to these things again and again.
“It made it a little challenging because we had already cast the kerbs and put in the drainage. . .”
The full project is expected to be completed by the end of March 2025. (LG)
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