Cops confident though traffic snarls expected in MoBay

MONTEGO BAY, St James — With the massive Western Water Resilience Project added, over the summer break, to the mix of work being done in and around this city, there is concern that there will be major traffic challenges today as thousands of students head out for the start of the new school term. Superintendent Eron Samuels, who leads the St James Police Division, is encouraging commuters to factor delays into their travel time. “In light of all the work that is being done, we have already identified the areas of concern.

What we will ask is that people leave out a little bit earlier so that they can make up time for the delays that they will have in that project. That is the one that we believe will cause a little bit more headache than the others,” he told the Jamaica Observer Friday. Even as he stressed that he does not anticipate any major delays, he said he will have boots on the ground in that area today.

Looking ahead to the evening rush hour, he is hoping commuters will take a staggered approach to road travel. “If they have somewhere they can go and sit and relax for a little while until the traffic runs off, that will help to ease the congestion and ease the anxiety that they’ll face by being in traffic for extended periods,” said Samuels. “The truth is, we have more vehicles than the network of the roadwork can actually manage, so no matter what, the number of vehicles is just a challenge.

So unless persons carpool or take public transportation, we will still see some issues as it relates to traffic... We have seen an increase in public transportation, the JUTC buses... so let us ask them to utilise those,” he encouraged.

Samuels and his team have amassed years of experience handling the back-to-school rush, and past traffic management plans have taken into account everything from protests to pothole-riddled roads. Some may argue that this year is different. Traffic crawls along an under-construction area of the Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project about noon on Saturday.

This is part of improvements being made in the West Green/Catherine Hall area. Charmaine N Clarke Phase 1 of the US$450-million Western Water Resilience Project began along the Elegant Corridor in Rose Hall, St James, in June. Pipe-laying between Greenwood and …