Long Hill, St James road users cry out for alternative

Hopeton Bucknor, Gleaner Writer

Motorists who use the main road in Long Hill in St James are calling for the authorities to put in place an alternative to alleviate the traffic nightmare whenever there is a crash along the roadway.

Dozens of motorists and commuters, including students and tourists, were stranded for several hours yesterday after a motor vehicle crash rendered a section of the road impassable.

“Something needs to be done about the Long Hill road, once there is an accident, you are usually trapped for up to three to four hours,” said a disgruntled motorist.

“Right now you have tourists heading back to the airport who are trapped and look at the number of students who can’t get to school because the road is choked off,” he continued.

The Long Hill road, which is a part of the road network leading from St James to parishes such as Westmoreland and St Elizabeth, is not only narrow but also treacherous because of a steep gorge along the roadway.

Whenever there is a crash or a motor vehicle runs off the road into the gorge, the thoroughfare generally becomes impassable.

“The new Montego Bay bypass should include a new roadway to bypass Long Hill because it is becoming more of a headache and a hindrance with each new accident,” continue the motorist.

“This is the only route for visitors going to and from Sandal South Coast, which is the top hotel property on the south coast.”

“I left home at 6:30 a.m for a medical appointment in Savanna-la-mar at 9:30 a.m and it is now 10:00 a.m and you could say I am still in Montego Bay,” said a businessman.

“We can’t be asking people to come and invest in Montego Bay and every time there is an accident on Long Hill everything comes to a full stop,” he added.

The Anchovy Police report that about 7:00 a.m the driver of a motor vehicle was proceeding towards Anchovy from Montego Bay and on reaching a section of the road he lost control of the vehicle, which plunged some 100 feet into the gorge.

The road was blocked for several hours as emergency teams responded to the crash.

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