Ramble Roadway made safer for pedestrians

Western Bureau :

Pedestrians in Ramble, Hanover, can now traverse the main road in that community under much safer conditions, thanks to the construction of a J$12.5 million sidewalk project in that community.

The project, which was implemented through the National Works Agency (NWA), involved the construction of a sidewalk stretching along the main road from the Knockalva Agricultural School, southerly to the intersection with the Haughton Grove community.

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The area is known for occasional motor vehicle accidents involving students. Residents in the area are therefore thankful for the project, which they are expecting will reduce the number of mishap in the area.

While emphasising the need for the sidewalk to accommodate the many students who traverse the corridor, Dave Brown, the member of parliament for Eastern Hanover, says the project will also facilitate easier access by the elderly and other residents in getting to the post office, health clinic and police station, which all fall within the project area.

"We are aware that there are four schools that fall in this zone, the agricultural school, the technical high school the Mount Ward Primary and the Basic School, and this area has been a problem for some time now, with students walking all over the road," Brown told The Gleaner, adding that two bus sheds would also be constructed in the area.

Paula Chambers, the principal at Mount Ward Primary School, described the project as a worthwhile initiative.

"It's looking about the safety of our children and they are really benefiting from it," said Chambers.

... Looking forward to fewer traffic accidents

Constable Samuel Watson of the Ramble Police Station commended the initiators of the sidewalk project in Ramble, Havover, while expressing the view that students now have a sidewalk which they can use without even having to look behind them.

"I think we will not have any more accidents between vehicles and pedestrian along this corridor if the sidewalk is properly used," said Watson.

Brown told The Gleaner that despite the fact that the project was slated to take six weeks for completion and took twice as much time, it was completed within budget.

He said that weather conditions was the main cause of the delay. Brown said that the project was done through the Government's Housing Opportunity, Prosperity, Employment programme, which was introduced as a replacement for the former Government's Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme .