Merl Grove High wants justice

It seems like the more things change, is the more dem remain the same.

In the case of a crosswalk or overhead bridge at my alma mater, Merl Grove High School, it has got worse!

Those in charge of the major reconstruction of the Constant Spring Road corridor have totally forgot to put the best interest and safety of the students, teachers, and other pedestrians into their contemplation.

The pedestrian crossing that used to be at the gate of the school, with a ‘crosser man or woman’, has since been removed and replaced by a big, long median that is causing havoc!

While driving along Constant Spring Road, in the vicinity of the school, I observed a number of girls crossing the road at the busy intersection of Dunrobin Avenue and Constant Spring Road, while a set of the traffic lights was on green!

The students tried to navigate their way across the busy and deadly thoroughfare, where the innocent life of Shakara Harris, a Merl Grove student, was taken only a few years ago.

How could it be that after such a tragic and preventable event, the powers that be, when drafting their plans, did not see it fit to put an overhead bridge or a crosswalk directly in front of the school?

There is no turning lane to go into the school. So yuh mean fi tell mi seh persons coming from Constant Spring Road heading to Half-Way Tree will have to go all the way down and turn back to drop off their children or go to work?

Utter rubbish and garbage! In the rush to be efficacious, the ineptitude of planners has been exposed. It is unacceptable!

I spoke to Stephen Shaw, communications manager for the National Works Agency, about the travesty pedestrians are facing and will face if this matter is not rectified post-haste.

We do not want another student, or any other Jamaican, to lose their life because of poor planning.

To ask students to cross at a major intersection where vehicles are flying across is a recipe for disaster! We need to avert these issues by being proactive instead of reactive!

The traffic lights are obviously not configured to give the students safe passage. They need to be fixed, and this should be communicated to the Chinese contractors in no uncertain terms.

This should have been put in place before school started.

Merl Grove High School wants justice for the safety of the students. Either unnu remove the median or give us an overhead bridge. Merl Grove students’ lives matter.

Have a blessed and safe week!