NRSC concerned about Norman Manley Highway

The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) has pointed to the Norman Manley Highway in Kingston (popularly known as Palisadoes Road) as a problem roadway with regard to speeding violations. The council has lamented that motorists are not obeying the speed limit along the highway. A section of the highway, in the vicinity of the Harbour View Roundabout, was the scene of a multiple road fatality recently.

"During a brief survey conducted on the Norman Manley Highway on one morning in February this year, we observed that 38 per cent of drivers exceeded the 80 kph speed limit and 19 per cent exceeded the 100 kph designated speed," Dr Lucien Jones, convenor and vice-chairman of the NRSC, said.

Dr Jones said that what makes the situation even more alarming is the growing number of vulnerable road users along the highway. They include joggers, cyclists and persons who engage in recreational walking and fishing. "A boardwalk has been provided for pedestrians and joggers, but there are no barriers to protect the boardwalk from runaway vehicles," he said.

He outlined another road safety hazard on the Norman Manley Highway, which is the absence of a separation/barrier between motorised vehicles and bicycles. This is a pressing need, as large groups of bicyclists frequent the roadway.

The NRSC has highlighted some other road safety risks along the Norman Manley Highway, specifically in the vicinity of the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI):

- The absence of defined bus stops or pedestrian crossings. This presents a risk of vehicles crashing into stopped buses or groups of CMI students.

- No signs to warn drivers (who may be unfamiliar with the roadway) that vehicles could potentially slow down to enter the CMI, or that vehicles could be leaving the CMI and turning into the highway.

- The lack of a 'Stop' sign for vehicles leaving CMI.

The NRSC is also concerned that there are no signs to warn drivers that they need to slow down when approaching either of the two roundabouts on the highway. Also, there is a section of road between the Harbour View Roundabout and the gypsum yard off the roadway where there is a steep embankment slope without any crash barriers to prevent vehicles running off the road.

The new road safety objective for the NRSC is to encourage the reduction of road deaths in Jamaica to fewer than 240 per annum. The slogan for the campaign is 'BELOW 240, Jamaica can do it!'