Daraine Luton, Staff Reporter
A section of the toll plaza on the Portmore leg of Highway 2000 yesterday. Government announced that the toll, which takes effect on July 13, will be under $79. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
IF IT were humanly possible to maintain the highest possible speed over any given distance, it would take both Asafa Powell and Justin Gatlin 10 minutes and 17 seconds to run the toll section of the Portmore leg of Highway 2000.
Dr. Wayne Reid, managing director of the National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC), said the toll road, which begins at Dawkins Drive, near the Portmore city centre and ends on Marcus Garvey Drive, is about six kilometres or just over three and a half miles long.
With Powell and Gatlin both being the world's fastest men, having recorded identical 9.77 seconds over 100 metres, logic suggests that if they maintain their world record speed for 6km or 6,000m, they can get to Marcus Garvey Drive via the toll road before vehicles that use the Mandela Highway.
A vehicle travelling along the toll road at a speed of 80kph will complete the same journey in about four and a half minutes.
TIME IS MONEY
In this fast-paced world, time is money. But for the residents of the 'Sunshine City, the Government's planned announcement of the toll on the Portmore leg is a catch-22 situation. It is either they pay to use the toll road when it is open, or use the alternative route via Mandela Highway and pay more for fuel.
Jordan Pool, an engineer at the National Works Agency (NWA), estimates that with traffic flowing, it will take a motorist, travelling at a speed of 80kph, seven minutes to get from Mandela Highway to Marcus Garvey Drive - a 9km journey.
However, if a traffic pile-up forces him to reduce his speed to 40kph, it will take the motorist 14 minutes to complete the nine-kilometre journey. Powell and Gatlin would have already arrived.
But what of the cost of the additional journey for those who use the alternative route?
Peter Crosswell, who operates a service station on Old Hope Road, said that depending on the vehicle, motorists will have to pay more for petrol.
The journey from Portmore city centre to Marcus Garvey Drive, via Mandela Highway, is believed to be 15 kilometres.
Mr. Crosswell estimates that a person driving a vehicle with a 2000cc engine will burn eight litres of gas every kilometre. This means that the 15km journey from Portmore via Mandela Highway will see a motorist burning an additional two litres of gas or $108 (when gas is being sold at $54 per litre) for each use of that route.
Travelling by the toll road, though, will see a motorist burning less than a litre of gas for the 6km, which means about $40 plus the toll.
