Road issues affecting Castleton

In recent times, many of the 1,600 residents of Castleton, St Mary, have joined together to plan and launch projects that will, hopefully, regenerate their picturesque but woefully underdeveloped community.

Locals are looking forward to the opening of a new clinic later this year, but they complain that there is no Internet, landline, or cable TV service in many sections of their hometown.

Additionally, they say the construction of a swing bridge is vital as there is no safe place to cross the powerful 20-kilometre-long Wag Water River.

Their biggest gripe, however, is the poor condition of the community's main thoroughfare, the busy Junction Road, which runs alongside the river and straight into Kingston.

RISE IN ACCIDENTS

Residents claim that in recent months, the number of accidents in the area has risen sharply because drivers have to be swerving from one side of the road to the other to avoid potholes, and in some places, the road has been eroded or sections have collapsed.

The situation is so bad that staff at Castleton Botanical Gardens say that they have experienced a significant drop in visitor numbers because people no longer feel comfortable travelling along the Junction Road.