John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter

The Local Organising Committee (LOC) for Cricket World Cup has scrapped plans to transform the roadway through the Bog Walk gorge and Mount Rosser into a one way thoroughfare, in order to accommodate the expected large volume of traffic going to the event in Kingston.

Major Desmon Brown, chairman of the LOC's transportation committee told The Gleaner yesterday that the plan was shelved amidst concern that it would result in major inconvenience to residents who live in the vicinity.

"One of the main issue was the movement of people from Kent Village, (near the Bog Walk gorge), most of them access schools (towards the north) not (in the direction of) Kingston," he explained. However, he noted that the restrictions for large vehicles remained in effect. "Between 3:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. no large vehicles are going to be allowed on Mount Rosser or Mount Diablo," he said.

Large vehicles diverted

Major Brown said large vehicles travelling from Kingston would be diverted at the foot of Mount Rosser at Ewarton and at Faiths Pen for those coming from the Ocho Rios end. He said an agreement was also reached with Windalco not to allow their trucks on the road between those hours. In addition, he said meetings have been held with some of the major manufacturing companies to encourage them to comply withthe restrictions in an effort to minimise congestion along the main routes.

A significant number of the people attending the CWC matches are expected to be accommodated on the north coast. The Bog Walk gorge through Mount Rosser is the most popular route to get to the north coast.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Ealon Powell agreed, pointing out that the organisers did not want to disenfranchise anyone. "We are going to better police it, but we are going to allow flow as is," he stressed.

SSP Powell, who is on the LOC's transport committee, emphasised that "we can't restrict everybody's life because of cricket so we have to ensure that everybody can co-exist."