Restoration of Over River crossing set for completion in October

WESTERN BUREAU:

Works Minister Robert Morgan has announced that ongoing restoration work on the Over River community bridge in St James, which was destroyed during the passage of Hurricane Melissa last October, should be completed to allow both pedestrian and vehicular traffic by mid-October.

Morgan briefly visited the bridge on Wednesday during a tour of several ongoing road and works projects in St James, including roads that fall under the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) Programme.

“The Over River Bridge was washed away in Hurricane Melissa, and we had to get specialised equipment to take it out of the river and dismantle it, and now we are mounting it back on abutments,” he said.

“The abutment that is currently here is actually one metre higher than what the bridge was before, and the reason we have done that is to give the bridge more space underneath because one of the reasons the bridge was washed away was because of debris.

“We are expecting that by the middle of October, people will be able to properly walk and drive across the bridge. There may be some minor aesthetic adjustments that need to be made to it after it is made drivable and properly walkable, but by October, this bridge should be ready for general traffic, and it will be safe at that time.”

The Over River Bridge’s destruction during the Category 5 hurricane, which made landfall on October 28 last year, resulted in communities such as Sign and Hurlock being cut off from their regular routes. Residents were forced to use alternative routes to get in and out of the community, resulting in increased travel time and transportation costs.

MISSED DEADLINE

The National Works Agency (NWA) had previously said that the bridge repair work, which began in February this year, would be fast-tracked to allow the structure to reopen in time for the September 2026 school term. However, that timeline has been missed, necessitating the new projected October completion date.

Michael Dixon, a resident of Over River, said the long-awaited completion of the bridge will benefit children from the community who attend school in neighbouring areas as well as other residents whose travel routes were made more difficult following the bridge’s destruction.

“The bridge is being fixed, and we are very happy about it because it is difficult to be travelling by other routes all the time, which is an additional five or six miles. We have our kids going to school close to the community, so the bridge is really needed, and especially for people going to work or the hospital,” said Dixon.

“The October timeline is realistic because we see it is getting closer, and before this, it used to be ‘two weeks, two weeks,’ and nothing would ever happen. At least now, we can see that the end is in sight, and this will make a massive difference for us,” he added.

Meanwhile, Morgan said that of the more than 50 bridges to be rehabilitated across Jamaica under the US$100-million Accelerated Bridge Programme, 10 bridges in St James will receive attention.

“We are now in negotiations with the bridge contractor, and we expect that within the next two weeks we will be able to make an announcement as to when we are going to sign the contract, and we expect that by early next year, the first bridge will be mounted,” he said.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com