Gridlock at Sangster Airport
Published:Friday | January 5, 2024 | 12:08 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer -
WESTERN BUREAU:
An imminent solution is on the horizon for the exasperation faced by travellers grappling with the traffic quagmire at Sangster International Airport (SIA) in Montego Bay, assures Sharon Hislop, MBJ Airport Limited’s commercial director.
According to Hislop, the gridlock and traffic snarls - a daily ordeal between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. since early December - are slated to cease being a problem by the third week of January.
“We were 10 per cent above 2019 traffic for the year. However, December and January is when we see a peak in the traffic, and that includes a lot of locals and visiting friends and relatives using private vehicles, adding to the traffic on the roadway,” Hislop explained.
Ongoing construction started earlier last year has not helped as that, too, has placed a strain on the entry to and exit from the facility.
Widening of the roundabout and the new airport road being built to the west, near the Summit Police Station along Godfrey Dyer Boulevard, should also split the traffic, but both will not be ready until later this year, shared Hislop.
“When the construction is completed, it will alleviate the traffic while we widen the sections in the airport. The roundabout is to be widened to take two-lane traffic right around it. Currently, we only have one lane,” stated the commercial director.
In the meantime, she has cautioned all passengers to ensure that they get to the airport three hours in advance of their flights. However, some passengers have been leaving home up to four hours ahead of their flights, but by the time they get close to the airport area, they are forced to disembark the vehicles they are travelling in and pull their bags all the way to the departure hall.
The new routing within the airport itself has also become a cause for concern as drivers dropping off departing passengers are no longer co-mingling with drivers picking up arriving passengers.
This has caused a lot of confusion although there are directional signs.
“The incoming traffic and outgoing traffic have to cross each other without the benefit of a traffic light, and this has resulted in the pile-up on the main road for many kilometres,” Montego Bay businessman Winston Dear argues.
“MBJ needs to put the necessary traffic lights and mark the routes with clear directional signs,” added the former Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry president.
He says until this is done, MBJ needs to put in security personnel to direct traffic with the support of the Jamaica Constabulary Force because the present situation is unacceptable.
One other businessman told The Gleaner that he had to drop off a family member at the airport yesterday at 10 a.m. when there were no flights, yet he experienced chaos.
“All I hear from everyone is that this new set-up cannot work,” said the businessman.
Tourism stakeholders are of the opinion that there needs to be an airport road, and unless one is built, the tourism capital will continue to face the traffic gridlock. “Everywhere else in the world there is an airport road,” said one operator.