Mobay bypass construction to start in 2020, says NROCC boss

WESTERN BUREAU:

Ivan Anderson, managing director of the National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC), says construction of the highly anticipated Montego Bay bypass road will commence as early as January 2020.

"The actual construction will start the last quarter of next financial year, maybe about January 2020, so between now and then, we are doing the land acquisition," Anderson told The Gleaner, following a stakeholders' meeting with members of Parliament and councillors in St. James yesterday.

"We are doing the envi-ronmental impact assessments, and we are doing the surveying, identifying which lands are going to be impacted, agreeing with people with the evaluation of their properties, and all of those issues will be done over the next year."

NROCC's preliminary design for the Montego Bay leg of Highway 2000 includes a bypass through the western city between Ironshore and Bogue in order to reduce traffic in the downtown area.

There will also be connections to several communities around Montego Bay, including Porto Bello, Green Pond, and Salt Spring. Additionally, only motorists using the full length of the road will be required to pay a toll.

While work was expected to begin on the bypass by the end of this year, Anderson said that the one-year delay for the start of the construction is to facilitate expected funding from the Exim Bank for the project.

"An application was made to the Exim Bank of China for funding, so that is part of the reason why we have this one-year hiatus. But I think the Government has given a commitment that even if we don't get the funding through the Exim Bank, they will see to the funding of the project," said Anderson.

Construction designs for the bypass have already been drafted, and the work is expected to take place over a three-year period.