THE EDITOR, Sir:
THIS MORNING (September 22) it took over one hour to travel from my home in Fairview to the Old Harbour round-about and a further half hour to reach Central Village. If left my home shortly before 6:00 a.m. and did not reach Three Miles until 7:48 a.m. needless to say I'm steamed! I refuse to ask my children to wake any earlier. By the time school began at 7:30 they had already been awake for over three hours and endured a longer than two-hour commute, facing the sun all the way in. At 6:00 a.m. traffic was backed up on the bypass all the way to Brunswick Avenue. This was unheard of previously.
Now that I have got that preamble out of the way, I offer a simple analysis and re-offer the same simple solution that many others and I have seen and offered, seemingly without success.
Observation shows that the bottlenecks on the bypass are caused by the cross traffic flows from the numerous side roads and at the Jose Marti round-about. The recent changes and even the previously erected traffic lights have done nothing to address this problem and may have exacerbated the situation. I have noted that a number of the roads in Kingston have implemented a strict no-right-turn policy to ease traffic flow; is this too simple a solution to implement along the stretch of bypass now enduring the spectacularly chaotic changes?
Why can't all the roads to the north of the bypass be made into one-way exits from the bypass with the exception of Windsor Road? This exception is notable as only JUTC. buses will be allowed to cross the bridge going south i.e. towards the bypass. Further this should be the only traffic light retained on the bypass. This will give the public bus company a distinct advantage in maintaining their schedule and offering better service. The removal of the stop light delays and those caused by the cross traffic flow will immediately allow traffic to flow at reasonable speeds.
Further to remove the bottleneck at the Jose Marti round-about, why can't traffic be barred from crossing at the round-about during the morning rush hour and continue onto the bypass; using the Old Harbour round-about to return eastward in order to enter Spanish Town? Similarly traffic wishing to travel to Portmore etc. will use the Jose Marti round-about. The same amount of security officers currently deployed to over-see the current madness would no doubt be capable of ensuring that illegal U-turns do not become the order of the day and disrupt the smooth flow of traffic.
I am, etc.,
C.A. VILLIERS
Fairview Park
Spanish Town
