By Erica James-King, Staff Reporter
Workmen on the Howard Cooke Dualisation Project apply the finishing touches to a section of a curb wall. - Patrick Campbell/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE $718 million dualisation of the Howard Cooke Boulevard in Montego Bay is 40 per cent complete and contractors for the programme, West Indies Home Contractors Infrastructure Limited (WIHCON), and the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) which is co-ordinating the project, are pleased with the pace of work on the thoroughfare.
Kerry Thomas, project manager with WIHCON, who is confident that the work has eased traffic flow in certain sections of the 'Second City', says the road expansion project on the 3.5 kilometres of roadway is on target to meet its April 2004 deadline for completion.
"The market street intersection of Howard Cooke Boulevard to Queens Drive intersection is substantially completed. The road near the Aquasol theme park has also been widened," Mr. Thomas told The Gleaner. "Work is progressing steadily and at a rapid rate and we have no doubt that it will be completed before April next year."
The UDC agrees. Responding to queries from The Gleaner, the Corporate Relations Division of the UDC outlined, "Approximately 40 per cent of the work has been completed... the northbound lane between Catherine Hall and Railway Lane has been widened and the box culverts constructed." The department further adds that all closed drains along Howard Cooke Boulevard have been completed and work will start next week to widen the southbound lane.
Meanwhile, motorists and pedestrians must brace themselves for more inconvenience over the next few months as work on Howard Cooke Boulevard intensifies, resulting in traffic changes and traffic snarls. "In a short while, we will be switching the traffic from the Catherine Hall roundabout to the Shell station on the north-bound lane, so that we can manage to finish the south-bound lane. That should take place within a week," Mr. Thomas disclosed.
The main objective of the Howard Cooke Dualisation Programme is the reduction of traffic congestion in the city, by converting the two-lane Howard Cooke Boulevard into a four-lane roadway from the Amphitheatre at Queens Drive to the intersection at Alice Eldemire Drive and Bogue road.
Other highlights of the programme include: the removal of all roundabouts on Howard Cooke Boulevard, the construction of bridges, resurfacing of the road and major drainage works. "Comprehensive drainage construction is being done, and will run the full length of the widened section of the road," stated Mr. Thomas.
Part of the wider infrastructure development being done on Howard Cooke Highway has seen the roadway between Aquasol Theme Park and the Amphitheatre intersection being converted to two-way traffic and temporary traffic lights installed at the Amphitheatre intersection.
"We have put in temporary traffic signals to regulate traffic flow through the amphitheatre intersection, but these will soon be replaced by permanent signals with appropriate filters," the Project Manager argued. "Few street lights are to go in the vicinity of that intersection and markings on the road will also be done in a very short while."
In the meantime, concerns have been raised over the negative impact the dualisation programme might be having on the environment. The Montego Bay Marine Park is questioning why piles of earth and debris excavated during the project, have been allowed to remain for an extended period of time near the sea in the vicinity of Pier I.
"When it rained on Friday, much of that mud washed into the sea," bemoaned Jill Williams executive director of the Montego Bay Marine Park, while speaking in an interview with The Gleaner. "The nutrient-rich soil is detrimental to the reefs as it will cause the proliferation of algae on the reefs."
Ms. Williams is urging the contractors to desist from storing the excavated soil near the highway, since it is the height of the rainy season and such a practice will lead to marine pollution.
