This man keeps a keen eye on the road as he navigates his way across the busy Marcus Garvey Drive in the vicinity of Fourth Avenue, yesterday. - Contributed

The Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ) has expressed disappoint-ment at the failure of the authorities to move swiftly to protect the safety of over 2,000 staff and customers of businesses in the Newport West area who face a daily hazard to cross Marcus Garvey Drive.

Currently, the only safe crossing for pedestrians is an overhead bridge at Ninth Avenue.

Evident danger

Newport West is bordered on the north by about one kilometre of the busy Marcus Garvey Drive, and the bridge is not convenient for most of the staff and customers who need to get into Newport West after disembarking public transport on that roadway.

The association welcomed the work to widen Marcus Garvey Drive and improve the flow of traffic east and westwards from the Portmore Toll Road. However, the SAJ said that while the work was being undertaken, the authorities have a responsibility to ensure that they do not create the danger to which pedestrians have been put.

On a daily basis, employees and customers coming in to the Newport West community can be seen darting in front of speeding traffic and attempting to climb the recently-installed median to get across the street. While no serious accidents have been reported, several minor injuries have occurred.

"The SAJ has registered its disappointment at the failure of the authorities to respond to repeated calls for a safe means of crossing the busy Marcus Garvey Drive for workers and customers of businesses in Newport West since work began this year to widen the road," Trevor Riley, general manager of the SAJ notes.

New bus route requested

The SAJ has written to the Minister of Transport and Works, as well as the chairman of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), requesting that among the measuresthat could be introduced isa bus route into Newport West to remove the dangerof people crossing the busy thoroughfare.

To date, no response has been received from the ministry or the JUTC to the calls made by the SAJ.

However, at a meeting last Wednesday with stakeholders in Newport West, Ivan Anderson, managing director of the National Road Operating and Constructing Company, (NROC), said that by the end of June 2008, pedestrians working and conducting business in Newport West will benefit from a crossing guard to be placed at the junction of Marcus Garvey Drive and Fourth Avenue. A similar crossing guard is to be located at the corner of Marcus Garvey Drive and East Avenue in Greenwich Town.

Anderson noted that the crossing guards are temporary until two bridges are constructed at the same locations.

While the decision has been welcomed by employers, they feel that some effort should be made to avert any con-tinued danger to pedestrians in the interim.