ROAD RAGE

WESTERN BUREAU:

Despite a promise that repairs to the Montpelier main road, in St James, will begin before the end of the year, residents continue to express anger and frustration over the existing conditions. Among the vexing issues is a pothole-riddled road surface, pools of muddy water whenever it rains, and a challenging dust nuisance when the time is dry.

The poor state of the road sparked a protest by transport operators and residents on September 15, who joined forces in venting their disgust about the challenges they face during their daily commute, which they describe as a costly and time-consuming nightmare.

Sherrica Thompson, a teacher at Irwin High School, said that despite leaving home for work in the early hours of each day, she is left feeling physically drained as the normally 40-minute trip can stretch into hours because of the poor road conditions, which regularly reduces traffic to a crawl.

“Last year [2024], I got to school late every day because of the road. I would leave home about 6 or 6:30, and by the time I reach Montego Bay to get a drive to go to Irwin, it was a lot to deal with. Nowadays, I am carpooling with a colleague to go to work, and the traffic is still an issue,” said Thompson.

“In the evenings I have to take a drive to get home, and I cannot get any drive because the vehicles are not running. If I do get a drive, by the time I get to Anchovy [en route to Montpelier], there is traffic, and by the time I get home, I am so tired and drained,” continued Thompson. “The road is really bad, and the issue was addressed one week after the general election was held [on September 3], and there is still no update.”

Sheca Windette-Thorpe, who works at the Anchovy High School’s Dr Fidel Castro Campus in Montpelier, said the roadway in the community has worsened since work began on the laying of pipes for a water project in the area.

“The roads leading to the campus have been in a very deplorable state since last school year, and things have gotten even worse since they dug up a portion of the road to install water pipes. Proper repairs have not been done since,” said Windette-Thorpe. “What used to be a 15-minute ride from Anchovy can now take well over an hour, as vehicular traffic has now been reduced to a snail’s pace.”

DAMAGING OF VEHICLE

One bus operator, who gave his name as Junior, said the road condition is challenging for him as it puts him at risk of spending thousands of dollars to replace damaged motor vehicle parts.

“I run the Bethel Town route to Westmoreland, and the road condition is trouble. I am losing two trips every day, and the schoolkids are reaching school late and are getting locked out for being late,” he said. “Every weekend I have to check for damaged front-end parts to be replaced. It costs me between $30,000 to $40,000 weekly for maintenance of front-end and back-end parts.”

The Montpelier to Cambridge roadway was one of several roads in the St James Southern constituency which were identified in 2024 for rehabilitation under the Relief Emergency Assistance and Community Help (REACH) Programme, being spearheaded by the National Works Agency (NWA). Before that, the roadway was one of 10 thoroughfares in the constituency which were slated to be fixed before the end of the 2022-2023 fiscal year, at a cost of $40 million.

When contacted, Nekeisha Burcell, the member of parliament for St James Southern, said she has received a commitment from the NWA that rehabilitative work on the road will be carried out over the next two weeks.

“We are optimistic that the NWA will hold to the two weeks’ starting date of October 14, to get some work done, because principals from schools in the area, plus families and businesses, have been complaining bitterly. It does not only affect South St James and its residents, but it also affects persons going to Hanover and Westmoreland, because that roadway is a major corridor,” she said.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com

See related story on page A3