Newly implemented strategies to ease traffic congestion in Lucea – Chang

Western Bureau:

The reversion of Willie Delisser Boulevard to two-way traffic, as well as the enforcement of delivery truck traffic rules, is expected to provide immediate and sustained temporary relief from traffic congestion in the north coastal town of Lucea in Hanover within the next two weeks.

Dr Horace Chang, deputy prime minister, offered that assurance to business leaders at a meeting of the Negril Chamber of Commerce and Industry held at Swept Away Resort on Thursday.

According to Chang, who is also the minister of national security, while the problem will not be fully rectified, if delivery trucks are restricted in their operations and some level of traffic is diverted on to Malcolm Heights and other such roadways, the congestion would not be such a problem.

“There are a number of things we are looking at for Lucea immediately; we will fix the Malcolm Heights road so that we can bypass the centre of Lucea completely with cars, it used to be done,” Chang told business leaders.

He said this route would see smaller vehicles travelling up the hill via Malcolm Heights, then coming out behind the seaside capital town.

“If you so choose and you are going Negril, not the buses, the cars can also go up the hill (by making a left turn off Hanover Street on to Moseley Drive) and come down to Russea’s High School and that will relieve the cars in the centre of the town,” Chang said.

The national security minister, who had a stint as member of parliament for Hanover Western in the 1980s, argued that the delivery of goods by truckers to business places on the populated roadway has long become part of the traffic congestion the town is experiencing, especially during peak hours between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

He said police would now move to enforce the law by preventing them from entering the town within these hours.

“That has to move, and then you look at restoring two-way traffic to Willie Delisser Boulevard simultaneously,” Chang insisted, adding that the “combination of these in the next fortnight can make a significant difference to Lucea”.

Additionally, the minister stated that the government would pave the road leading into the town because the sea is undermining it by seeping into the drains.

“The seawall itself is defective and, if it collapses, the main road itself will be blocked as it was recently, so we are fixing that thoroughly.”

Willie Delisser Boulevard was converted into a one-way in the ‘90s’, while in 2008, the NWA converted Millers Drive, Bigwell Lane, Moseley Drive, and Cressy’s Lane into one-way, due to traffic congestion on Hanover Street during peak hours.

It is a major choke-point, Chang said, of the entire coastal roadway from Montego Bay into Negril, which has become a real pain for the players in the tourist industry and the community.

He said the prime minister has assigned the senior engineer from the National Works Agency to come down and work on it very shortly. During that time, an extensive examination of traffic management can be done, which will include tourism and other commercial stakeholders.