Gov’t may put full overhaul of Junction on ice

The Government may shelve, for the immediate future, the full rehabilitation of the Junction main road in St Mary, four years after Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced a $600-million project to remedy the problem-plagued thoroughfare.

Chief executive officer of the National Works Agency (NWA), E.G. Hunter, made the disclosure in a Gleaner interview on Friday, citing budgetary constraints.

The crucial corridor links the capital city to the northeastern end of the island, but Hunter said with the development of the North-South Highway and work under way on the South Coast Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP), the continuation of the St Mary roadworks is not a priority. SCHIP is expected to provide smooth passage from Kingston to Portland.

Already, more than $1 billion has been spent to widen and realign from Broadgate to Agualta Vale, approximately 4.8 kilometres of road.

That was to be phase one of the wider project, which was to see rehabilitation work from Tom’s River to Agualta Vale under the Government of Jamaica Road Improvement Project.

Hunter said from a purely technocratic and economic standpoint, emphasis will no longer be placed on the corridor, which has been a thorn in the side of St Mary residents and motorists since work began.

The daily closures have significantly impacted the parish’s economy, sending several small businesses under water.

“Going from Broadgate all the way to Tom’s River is not a guinea project. It’s not the easiest undertaking,” said Hunter.

He said the original decision to undertake the project was predicated on Junction being the most viable route from Kingston to St Mary and Portland.

The NWA chief said this made the road attractive for rehabilitation work.

Plans to fix the thoroughfare were initially announced by Holness weeks before the St Mary South Eastern by-election, drawing the scrutiny of the Office of the Contractor General.

At that time, the prime minister had said that Junction selected itself for repair. In a press statement from his office, he said the Government would not allow the scheduled election to delay the project.

“Since then, two other options have manifested themselves. The North-South Highway that goes from Caymanas to Mammee Bay ... [and] the other alternative is the South Coast Highway, which is now under construction, going through St Thomas,” he said.

“So, at this point in time, the consideration goes to, do we need three new corridors to go from Kingston to Portland?”

Although no definitive decision has been taken yet, the attractiveness of overhauling the Junction stretch has diminished.

Hunter said improvement is still likely to take place along the roadway to make commute comfortable and safer, but there are questions now, “given the demands being made on Government,” whether or not repairs from Broadgate to Tom’s River “is necessarily the best spend for limited funds”.

Hunter said the stretch is four times the length of Broadgate to Agualta Vale and would cost the Government billions of dollars to complete.

“If you just look at the terrain, that terrain is very unforgivable, and so my estimation is that it would be multiples of what we have already spent,” he said.

Hunter, meanwhile, said that Surrey Paving has also been awarded a separate contract of $360 million to repair a section of the Chovey main road where there has been a recurring sink.

Those works were not earmarked for repair under the initial contract inked with Surrey.

He said that the company has only just received its mobilisation money. Surrey and NWA engineers will today be on site to assess and finalise the repair programme.

It is expected to last for six months.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com