Naggo Head traffic nightmare to be addressed – Shaw
THE NATIONAL Works Agency (NWA) says the traffic build-up at the Naggo Head roundabout, currently being experienced by motorists and residents of Portmore after some $250 million was spent in 2019 to widen six kilometres of roadway along Port Henderson Boulevard, will finally be addressed.
The expectation that increasing the lanes from two to four along Port Henderson Boulevard, from the Bayside roundabout to Naggo Head, would reduce the traffic congestion during peak hours, did not materialise as motorists and residents have to contend with a bottleneck at the Naggo Head roundabout that consistently leaves them languishing in traffic for hours during peak periods.
“We are in the procurement process and, as soon as we are settled on a contractor, the project to add another two lanes from the Naggo Head roundabout to the Hellshire road intersection will begin this year,” disclosed Stephen Shaw, public relations manager at the NWA.
Shaw, while not divulging what the project will cost, expressed confidence that the work, when completed, will address the bottleneck at the roundabout, created by motorists travelling north along Port Henderson Boulevard.
St Catherine South Member of Parliament Fitz Jackson, who had indicated in the early stages of the Port Henderson Road expansion project that, by putting in four lanes, they would only shift the traffic congestion from one end to the other, said he suspected that some adjustment was about to be made, based on tenders that he has seen put out.
DESIGN WILL ADDRESS PROBLEM
“I have been privy to the design done by the NWA, based on their traffic count, and I think it will minimise the current problem. No plan will totally eliminate traffic build-up but they have come up with a design that they have explained to me, and I have confidence that it will adequately address the problem,” Jackson assured.
Jackson has been lobbying for the last two years for the issue to be addressed, writing letters to the NWA requesting meetings to discuss the problem.
In the meantime, Donovan Hines who operates a cooking gas delivery business in the Port Henderson Plaza, said, during peak hours, he has to shut down delivery services because it will take him more than 45 minutes to get out of the plaza onto Port Henderson Boulevard and then another hour to get to Naggo Head.
“A lot of motorists coming from Bayside to Naggo Head, in order to avoid the traffic on Port Henderson Boulevard, will use the plaza access road, creating massive congestion and making it difficult for business owners to traverse back and forth,” Hines told The Gleaner, adding that, during peak hours, businesses in the Port Henderson Plaza experienced significant losses.
Lloyd Bartley, who operates a truck, said it is unfortunate that they are taking this long to address the problem.
“The unavoidable delays in the traffic along Port Henderson has been weighing heavily on my productivity,” he said.