WESTERN BUREAU:

Motorists in St James are expressing concern about the traffic lights at the Westgate intersection in Montego Bay being non-functioning for over a year, despite assurance from the local authorities that the delay in rectifying the issue is part of long-term expansion plans for the location.

The lights, which are located at a T-junction connecting the roadways leading to Porto Bello, Fairview, and Barnett Street, have been out of service since January 2023, with police officers having to occasionally be on site to direct the flow of traffic in all three directions.

Rohan Salmon, a private motorist whose regular commute to Montego Bay takes him from the direction of Porto Bello, said that the daily bumper-to-bumper traffic at Westgate runs the risk of vehicular collisions without the lights to regulate which lines of vehicles should stop or go.

“This is an area of great concern for efficient, safe passage, especially when coming from the direction of Vistaprint or Bogue [in the direction of Fairview], and, when you get to the stoplight, if you are turning right to go to Westgate, or even coming from the Westgate end, it is rather difficult. Because of the dog-eat-dog mentality, the drivers driving bumper-to-bumper increases the chance of hitting another person’s vehicle, resulting in property damage and loss of time to repair or make a claim through insurance companies,” said Salmon.

“The public should be informed as to what plans the authorities have for the stoplight. The authorities should put a solution in place, either by repairing the lights or having a constant post and an officer there to direct traffic,” Salmon suggested.

Jason Higgins, another motorist based in Montego Bay, is blaming poor city development planning for drivers’ current treatment of the Westgate T-junction, as drivers coming from the direction of Freeport create two lanes of traffic, one destined for Barnett Street and one turning onto the Orange-destined roadway.

“It is because of poor city planning and road planning, which causes a lot of the traffic issues that we have. That entire stretch should have been four lanes but, based on how they planned the city, they weren’t thinking and didn’t make the road wide enough to accommodate two lanes of traffic on both sides,” Higgins argued. “That would have fixed some of the issues, because, when you get to that stoplight, they could put a filter light there or make a third lane. And, for those who need to make the right turn to go to Orange or Westgate, they could go into that filter lane and wait on the filter light.”

But Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon pointed out that, based on discussions that have been held with the St James police and the National Works Agency (NWA), the restoration of the lights has not yet been carried out because of pending development of the Westgate roadway.

“We spoke with them about it, and the police were recommending that it [the stoplight] remain as is, and the NWA is waiting on NROCC [National Road Operating and Constructing Company Limited] so they can shed more light on it. There is a larger project coming for the space, and I think they did not want to make the investment and do the repairs, only to take it out as soon as it [the work] reaches there,” Vernon told The Gleaner.

It should be noted that, in August 2023, motorists complained about the non-functioning of the Westgate traffic lights, pointing to collisions and fender-bender incidents in that location as evidence of the need for the lights to be repaired. Complaints were also raised at that time about the lights installed at Harbour Street and the Church Street and Strand Street intersection.

In the meantime, Senior Superintendent of Police Eron Samuels, the commanding officer for the St James Police Division, stated that there is in fact a freer flow of traffic without the stoplight than there previously was with it.

“We are realising, along with the NWA, that it seems we have a better flow of traffic without the light than with the light. There are plans being made, based on the development of the roadway, that will have to change, based on the widening of the road that will take place. So they are just going to wait until that is done before the completion of those repairs. As it is now, based on the current state, it is better that we have the police officers manning the traffic there [at Westgate] rather than the light in the mornings,” said Samuels.

Janel Ricketts, the NWA’s western regional community relations officer, indicated that, while expansion work is expected to take place along the Westgate roadway in due course, repair work for the traffic light is also slated to undergo a procurement process.

“The light has an electrical problem which will require rewiring, so we are about to prepare the document to send to tender. It is two lights we are prioritising now, that one and the one at Leader’s Avenue, which needs some rewiring as well. I am not able to give you a timeline since we’re going to have to go through procurement,” said Ricketts.