Groundwork for MoBay perimeter road at satisfactory pace

Deputy Prime Minister Horace Chang says groundwork for the construction of the Montego Bay perimeter road in St James is progressing at a satisfactory pace.

“The [plans] this year are to complete the design, acquisition work and the environmental studies that are required, and all that is progressing satisfactorily,” Chang said.

He was speaking to journalists on Monday, March 15, during a visit to the Montego Bay Comprehensive Health Centre (Type V), where he and his wife took the first of two jabs of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Chang said he understands the traffic dilemma that residents and the business community are facing in the Second City, and that the Government is committed to executing the bypass project.

“It is a challenge in terms of traffic in Montego Bay, but we have to do it right,” Chang indicated.

DESIGN WORK

“Work on a highway is not just putting tractors on the ground. The design work is being done. The acquisition of property is being done. We have acquired several properties in the Porto Bello area [and] that continues,” he added.

He is encouraging the people of Montego Bay to exercise a bit more patience, and assured that much work is being done.

“We expect that by the end of this year, we will be in a position to go forward with the shovel in the ground, so to speak,” he added.

The project will involve the construction of 25 kilometres of roadway that will consist of two segments – a 15-kilometre Montego Bay bypass starting from Ironshore to Bogue Road, and the Long Hill bypass involving construction of 10 kilometres of highway from Montego Bay to Montpelier.