Motorists honk, residents fume as cops arrest PriceSmart traffic
Published:Wednesday | December 23, 2020 | 12:18 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
PriceSmart’s plan to build out a sprawling second store in Portmore can’t come too soon for residents of Valentine Gardens in St Andrew, who have complained of years of traffic trauma.
While motorists were perhaps elated at the police Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB) action in rerouting traffic into the residential area of Valentine Gardens, homeowners in the vicinity were again angered by the logjam linked to Red Hills Road, a key thoroughfare in the city.
Usually, vehicles access PriceSmart’s compound via Valentine Drive. But on Tuesday, at least three cops engaged in traffic control at the gate, with a metal barrier and cones in place. Valentine Castle Avenue was converted into a one-way street during business hours.
There were also traffic flow adjustments to Valentine Castle Drive and Hill View Avenue.
A woman who lives within the environs of PriceSmart and who declined to give her name said that the construction of the Portmore outlet was at the top of her Christmas wish list. She hopes she won’t have to live through another December nightmare in 2021.
She recounted having virtually been trapped in her home for fear of having to face long waits in traffic near her doorstep.
“Look here, PriceSmart needs to pay us. We can’t go about our business at Christmas time round yah so,” she told The Gleaner.
With nearby streets lined with vehicles, some shoppers opted not to go through the obstacle course and instead parked some distance from the popular store.
One such person was a young man named Andre, who explained that he made it and out of there in about half an hour, which was good time.
Roslie Iman Hurgos, with hands on trolley, was waiting outside to be picked up by a cabbie. She learnt the hard way in the morning when her driver insisted that she get out of the vehicle and walk to the store since they had been waiting in line for quite some time.
She entered the store about 10 o’clock and considered herself fortunate to be out about 14 minutes after midday.
WORTH THE TRIP
Hurgos admitted to having negotiated the aisles with greater ease on earlier visits but insisted that despite the crowd, it was a shopping trip well worth making.
“Them say Jamaica nuh have nuh money, but you want to go in there so,” she said, raving about bulk-purchasing bargains.
While some motorists fumed, Senior Superintendent of Police Gary McKenzie, who took charge of PSTEB on Thursday, December 3, made light of those troubles.
“There is very little inconvenience as the area itself is very close. So what I would ask is for persons to be patient and to understand that what is being done really to the benefit of the general good of the public,” McKenzie said.
The police will review measures daily as the season comes to an end, he added.
The changes, he said, were imposed to better manage the significant increase in traffic flow as Christmas shoppers flooded PriceSmart.
“We are mindful that where there is too much congestion, there is the potential for street crime, and so what we have done is to seek to manage the area in a manner that will reduce the possibilities of that,” the senior superintendent said.