Work begins to widen Barbican Road
COMMUTERS TRAVELLING along the severely congested Barbican Road in St Andrew will soon be able to breathe a sigh of relief as the National Works Agency (NWA) has begun work to significantly improve the roadway and general flow of traffic in that area.
The Barbican Road Improvement Project will see the corridor being upgraded from the current two lanes to a four-lane carriageway with a median.
The work is being undertaken as part of the Major Infrastructure Development Programme valued at more than US$300 million, which is being implemented by the China Harbour Engineering Company.
Manager for communication and customer service at the NWA, Stephen Shaw, informed that the plan is to widen that section of Barbican Road from the traffic signals at Russell Heights up to the foot of Jacks Hill, which is just over a kilometre in length.
“This is part of the bigger plan to improve traffic flow throughout the Corporate Area and reduce congestion in several areas,” he noted.
The project is at the first phase, which involves the acquisition of lands and the construction of boundary walls. The second phase will be the actual road improvement and construction.
“We are looking at some 27 parcels of land that will be acquired as part of this widening process. We have already completed the process for about 19 of those and are in discussions with the National Land Agency as it relates to the remainder,” he said.
The works also include signalisation of the Barbican Road/East Kings House Road and Bird Sucker Lane/Barbican Road intersections.
Simultaneously, the National Water Commission will be laying pipes, water and sewer lines, while the Jamaica Public Service will remove poles.