Safety concerns delay work on Palisadoes project

The National Works Agency (NWA) yesterday delayed the planned closure of a section of the northbound lane along the Palisadoes roadway in Kingston.

The closure was to be effective yesterday morning and remain in place for three months, as part of the US$65-million effort under way to rehabilitate and protect the Palisadoes shoreline.

Manager of communication and customer services at the NWA, Stephen Shaw, told The Gleaner that a decision was made to delay the planned closure of the road because the contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company, had failed to put in place safety arrangements as instructed.

Critical safety measures

According to Shaw, an NWA official conducted an inspection of the alternative route on Tuesday evening and determined that the critical safety measures had not been implemented.

Shaw said the planned traffic diversion would be implemented as soon as the contractor puts in place all the safety measures that have been ordered by the NWA.

The detour is planned to span approximately 1.3 kilometres heading from the direction of the airport, ending approximately three kilometres from the Harbour View roundabout, where traffic will then be redirected on to the pre-existing roadway.

Motorists travelling from the direction of the Harbour View roundabout, towards the airport, will travel in the far-right lane for the distance of the diversion.