Old Harbour Bypass Project

The Old Harbour By-Pass Project consisted of the construction of 14.5 Km (9.0 mls) of new roadway to Arterial Road Standards, from Bushy Park in St. Catherine to Sandy Bay in Clarendon. The project’s primary objective was to relieve the traffic congestion through the town of Old Harbour, by providing an alternative corridor for vehicle which have no need to stop in the town. The Project was co-funded at a total cost of J$1.3billion through loans from:

The Project was co-funded at a total cost of J$1.42B through loans from:

• Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) - 54%
• OPEC Fund for International Development - 10%
• The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) was responsible for providing funding for the remaining 36%.

The Project idea had its birth in the early 1970's, when the Government of Jamaica commissioned the Jamaica Transportation Survey. Out of that survey came the vision of a "Southern Highway", by-passing all the major towns, from Twickenham Park in St. Catherine to Hatfield in Manchester. Preliminary designs were completed for the entire route, in sections.  Prior to the implementation of the Old Harbour Bypass project, other sections were completed. These include; 

• The Spanish Town By-Pass,
• The May Pen By-Pass and
• The Mandeville By-Pass.

The Old Harbour By-Pass project was designed to include the construction of nine (9) major structures (Railway Overpasses, Bridges over waterways and major roadway intersections, and one Underpass), over seventy drainage structures (Box Culverts, Pipe Culverts, Siphons etc.). This phase of the project entails the construction of only two (2) lanes with cement stabilized marl base covered by an asphaltic Concrete wearing surface with shoulders on either side. Construction was earmarked to take 24 months, with a 12 months Maintenance Period. Construction commenced in the financial year (1999/2000). The overall project, which includes aspects such as,

Land Acquisition,
Resettlement of informal settlers on lands required for the project, and
The Detailed Design of the Project,

was scheduled for implementation over a five (5) year period, which commenced May 1997.

The works contract commenced on September 27, 1999 and the completion date was set for August 11, 2001 and later revised to December 14, 2001. The contractor, Consolidated Contractors Company of Kuwait completed the work on schedule and within budget.                      

The Old Harbour Bypass was officially opened on Saturday, January 12, 2002.