MAJOR ROAD work on two of the Corporate Area's busiest thoroughfares which have stalled for weeks should resume next week, according to the Ministry of Transport and Works.
Leo McEwan, of the Ministry's public relations department, told The Gleaner that improvement work on Washington Boulevard and Trafalgar Road was suspended for the Christmas holidays and because of rain.
He disclosed that the March 2001 deadline for the completion of the work on the Washington Boulevard could be missed as the Ministry is now reviewing a request from the National Water Commission to accommodate the laying of a trunk main under the existing carriageway.
Roughly 50 per cent of the work has been completed with the southern carriageway between Duhaney Drive and Daytona Drive already paved. Mr. McEwan dismissed suggestions that the lack of funding had affected the road work which is being carried out under a deferred financing programme. Under the programme, contracts are only awarded to individuals/companies that can finance projects out of pocket. They are only reimbursed when the Ministry is satisfied the work is done properly.
The work along the Boulevard has been hit with violence in the past as warring factions converged on the site last August demanding work. This forced the police to maintain a presence in the area for a while until the situation returned to normal.
Work on the Washington Boulevard is the second phase of a project which has already resulted in major improvement work to the Mandela Highway between Ferry and Six Miles. The $264 million project which is being undertaken by Surrey Paving and Aggregates Ltd., will see the expansion of the roadway between Duhaney Park and the intersection at Molynes Road, into six lanes. Construction of a 30-metre two lane bridge over the Constant Spring Gully in the vicinity of the Church of the Open Bible, forms phase three of the project.
The work on Trafalgar Road between Knutsford Boulevard and Ruthven Road is being carried out by Pavement and Structures at a cost of $65 million. The road is being widened to accommodate up to six lanes in some places.
