Minister Mike Henry (centre) cuts the ribbon to signify the opening of the Gutters to Freetown main road; others in pic are Mr. Clement Watson head of the Road Maintenance Fund (right) and Mr. Everald Warmington, MP for South West St. Catherine.
New traffic lights were commissioned into service in Old Harbour on Thursday, January 7, 2010 by Minister Mike Henry and CEO of the National Works Agency, Mr. Patrick Wong.
A view of the newly installed traffic lights.
At a ceremony marking the opening of the Gutters to Freetown main road, traffic lights were turned on in the Old Harbour Square for the first time. Speaking at the ceremony, Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry expressed his appreciation to all the various stakeholders who worked on both projects to make them a reality. He noted that for a long time the town of Old Harbour was over-run with traffic congestion and that the roads were not being properly maintained. It is against that background that he said that the Ministry and the National Works Agency (NWA) came on board to address the situation. Continuing, Minister Henry said, “This is a part of my multi-modal approach to transport and ultimately I want us to move to installation of cameras and the introduction of a school bus service which would complement the work such as this which has gone on here in the town of Old Harbour.”
The Gutters to Freetown main road improvement was part of a Periodic Maintenance Programme financed by the Road Maintenance Fund. It saw the resurfacing of the entire ten kilometre corridor between Gutters and Freetown at a cost of $141M and was done by contractors Pavement and Structures Ltd.
Also speaking at the ceremony were MP for the area, Mr. Everald Warmington who expressed thanks on behalf of the community for the improvement of the town’s infrastructure, courtesy of the MTW and the NWA. He said that the traffic lights would be particularly helpful with respect to the regulation of the many taxi operators who ply their trade within the town.
Mayor for the St. Catherine capital, Spanish Town offered the vote of thanks.
For his part, CEO of the NWA said that the job came in on time and within budget and was part of the wider road/traffic management programme being embarked upon islandwide.
Mayor for the St. Catherine capital, Spanish Town offered the vote of thanks.
The Gutters to Freetown main road links Spanish Town to Old Harbour in south west St. Catherine and forms part of the alternative route to Highway 2000. The improvements on the road are expected to increase the life of the roadway by up to 15 years.