University Road in August Town to reopen soon - Residents relieved as restoration of arterial road, which caved in two years ago, nears completion
Published:Monday | August 17, 2020 | 12:14 AMJason Cross/Gleaner Writer
Residents of August Town in St Andrew are beaming with joy, as the renovation to a section of University Road in the community is nearing completion. The road had caved in, leaving a massive hole in it, leading to a gully and had created great danger for persons, including children using the thoroughfare.
“We happy now to see dat the road is fixing. It was very inconvenient to everybody, to anybody who work down here or who want to go work. It was very bad and now it very nice because we glad fi see it a fix. See dem oil it deh and start roll it and thing,” senior citizen Lloyd Mattis said.
He added: “Di road bruck down because a rain. This is a main road fi di buses, you know. It run this way, go Papine. Now, when the bus come pon this road, it affi turn back, go Papine, go through Mona Heights and come on Mona Road to come back to August Town. So if there is an emergency, we affi run back down the road, fi tek Mona Road fi go round Mona Heights, before we can get to University Hospital of the West Indies.”
FACED PROBLEMS
The section of the road collapsed in early 2018 and since then, residents have faced issues ranging from commuting for longer distances to get to school, work and home. The problem was further compounded as there were reports of criminals using The University of the West Indies, (UWI) Mona campus, as a thoroughfare, posing as taxi operators to rob people.
One man who gave his name as Adam, a resident of the community and a student at UWI, said the condition of the road had forced most of the taxis operating from August Town to Papine to use the UWI campus as a bypass. But the UWI, due to reports that thieves were using taxis to rob students on campus as well as other unwanted activities, had placed a ban on route taxis, restricting access to the campus.
He praised the fixing of the road, pointing to the ease it will create for students at Hope Valley Experimental Primary and Infant School located on University Road, who were forced to endure longer distances to school even though they live a short distance away from the institution. Other primary and high school students share a similar story.
PRESENTED SERIOUS DANGER
“Persons used to complain, because you have Hope Valley Experimental right there and persons couldn’t traverse as freely as before. Persons had to take the other route, around the university, and it was proving problematic for young pupils. With the fixing of the road, it will help them traverse efficiently. It will free up some of the other roadways.
“Instead of taking it through the university, they can use this again. There have been cases of persons using taxis to conduct robberies on the campus, so this will also free up the university in terms of security measures. Persons use taxis as veils. It offers persons a better and effective way to traverse the area, to school and to Papine,” he said.
Although the roadway presented serious danger, many motorists insisted on traversing the roadway, which had clear signs indicating the closure of the road. The police were constantly on the lookout for those attempting to sneak by. Political representatives also made feverish pleas to persons to avoid the stretch, which could have caved in with them at any time.
Alex Gunn, resident and one of the workmen on the project, shared that renovation started over a year ago; however, due to inclement weather, it was occasionally paused. He said in roughly a month, the road should be ready for reopening.