Gov’t mulls plan for 4-lane road on St Ann leg of North Coast Highway

The Government is making headway on its plans for two major projects aimed at easing traffic congestion along a leg of the Northern Coastal Highway in St Ann.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness revealed the plans at the opening of a new Courts Jamaica store in Drax Hall, St Ann on Thursday.

The first project involves expanding the Northern Coastal Highway into a four-lane road, complete with underpasses and side roads.

"There are two major projects in place now. The first is the improvement of the North Coast Highway, which will be expanded to a four-lane road with underpasses and side roads," said Holness.

"So, because it (the highway) is doing two functions; it's carrying people from one area to another.

"People from Montego Bay heading into Kingston have to use this, but people who live in this area (of St Ann) who would normally use streets and walk and ride, they also have to use that road. So, the road... doesn't function properly," he suggested.

Residents have often complained about the congestion on the highway between Ocho Rios and St Ann's Bay, particularly in the Mammee Bay area, as well as in the vicinity of Priory in the parish.

Holness envisions a more efficient transportation system for that leg of the Northern Coastal Highway, where local traffic flows smoothly through side streets and boulevards.

"So, what you really need here is a boulevard that goes through with your side streets for your local traffic that's managed in terms of speed so that people can traverse as much as possible with stoplights and so forth; that is being planned," Holness outlined.

The second project entails extending the North South Highway to Trelawny. This extension is to help to mitigate traffic build-up along the north coast.

Holness explained that, "We have also opened up negotiations to extend the north-south leg of the highway to take you right into Trelawny.

"So both programmes are fairly advanced in development," he said.

The North South Highway (officially the Edward Seaga Highway) connects the south coast via Caymanas in St Catherine to the north coast via Mammee Bay in St Ann.