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Corrective Works to Take Place on Portmore Toll Road

Minister Mike Henry (2nd from left) addresses the Press Conference; others in the pic from left to right are: Mayor of Portmore, Keith Hinds; Chairman of the Toll Authority Mr. Ferris Zaidie and CEO of the Toll Authority, Mrs. Paula Fletcher.

As of May 17, 2010 work will commence on the Portmore leg of Highway 2000 to correct a major fault. The section that will be affected is near to the Port of Kingston.

Works are to be undertaken on some areas of the pavement which have settled and where cracks have also occurred. These areas of for repair are on both sides of the carriageway. Though the actual work zone will be a stretch of road approximately 1.1km, 2 km of roadway will be closed on one side of the carriageway during each stage of the works. Traffic from the closed carriageway will then be diverted to the other side. At the same time, there will be a reduction in the number of lanes along the diverted path; ie from 3 to 2 for the Portmore to Kingston leg and from 3 to 2 for the Kingston to Portmore leg.

The work will be done in two stages. Stage One will constitute work being done on the bay side and will last for 3 months (where works are confined to daytime only). During this phase traffic:

• From Kingston to Portmore will be kept on 2 lanes on the portside of the carriageway.
• From Portmore to Kingston will be diverted from the bay side to 2 lanes on the port side.
• A median will separate the traffic and the road will be temporarily marked

Stage 2 will constitute work on the portside and will last for 3 months (where works are confined to daytime only).

During this phase, traffic from Kingston to Portmore and Portmore to Kingston will be transferred to the bay side to accommodate the repairs on the port side. As in stage 1, two lanes will be accommodated in each direction.

The work is expected to start on May 17, 2010 and will be completed in December (where work is confined to day time only). The operators of the highway have agreed to work at nights once adequate security has been arranged. This of course will reduce the length of time for the work.

During this time, a ‘User Discount Scheme’ will be introduced by the Operators; this will come into effect as of May 10. This scheme provides a 25% discount to users who travel between the following 2 bands; 5:00 am to 7:00am and 8:30am to 9:30 am. During these periods, the following rates will apply:

Class    Old      New

1          120      90

2          170      130

3          340      260

The aim of the scheme is to reduce usage during the traditional ‘rush’ period, and spread the traffic to the earlier (5:00am – 7:00am) and the later (8:30am – 9:30am) periods. Only users in the morning will benefit from this discount scheme. It has been however agreed that both the evening and morning traffic flow will be continuously assessed with a view to ascertaining whether additional or new measures are required to address any problem that is identified. A comprehensive PR programme will be embarked upon by the Operators.

The corrective works which values approximately US$8M will be undertaken by Bouygues at no cost to the Government and people of Jamaica