Edmond Campbell, Senior News Coordinator

Construction on the first phase of the second leg of Highway 2000 is to begin next month. Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller announced yesterday that the four-lane dual carriageway has been approved by Cabinet.

Making her contribution to the 2007/2008 Budget Debate in Gordon House, the Prime Minister said the tolled highway would bypass Mount Rosser.

"This tolled roadway will start at the existing Bog Walk/Linstead bypass and bypass the town of Ewarton, the hills of Mount Rosser and Mount Diablo, ending on the road to Claremont, just outside Moneague," she explained.

The highway will be constructed by developers of Highway 2000, TransJamaican Highway and French company Bouygues, as well as the National Road Operating and Constructing Company representing the Government.

The roadway, when completed, will link Spanish Town, St. Catherine and Ocho Rios, St. Ann, over a distance of 67 km.

Subsequent phases will bypass the Bog Walk gorge in St. Catherine and Fern Gully, St. Ann.