Roadworks could burn students’ pockets - Transport operators warn of back-to-school blues

Some operators of public passenger vehicles in the Corporate Area are warning that they are not prepared to endure traffic delays when the new schoool year begins on Monday.

The operators say that it is clear that roadworks, which are currently under way along major corridors, may not be completed in time for 'September morning'. They say that venturing into some of these areas will impact their ability to make money, and that is not a risk they want to take.

"Mi really a guh sorry for some a the students dem on Monday because we nah go can carry dem go all of the journey, because if we do that the boss money nah go make because the road wicked," one bus conductor said.

The conductor said he and his colleagues are planning to travel only part of the journey along their assigned routes in order to avoid the traffic gridlock that is expected.

"Honestly, we naah guh can manage it so we a beg the parents dem to give the kids a likkle extra money so dem can take a cab or a next bus," the conductor said.

With the new school year being just days away, work crews have been busy trying to have the corridors opened. Yesterday, THE STAR journeyed through sections of Constant Spring Road where contractors were busy putting final touches to that roadway. The works have been under way since late 2018. When Prime Minister Andrew Holness visited the Three Miles area in mid-July, he noted that there has be at least two missed deadlines.

Brace for delays

"I am saying that we cannot move past September the first," the prime minister said.

However, from the looks of things, motorists using Three Miles and Hagley Park Road should brace for delays in the vicinity as roadwork continues in the area.

Communications Officer of the National Work Agency (NWA) Natalee Bloomfield says plans are under way to tweak its traffic management system in the Corporate Area for the new school term.

"The NWA is finalising the strategies that they will be putting in place. For the Three Miles area, they are trying to get the upper bridge available for vehicles to use it, but there are other traffic measures that they will be putting in place," she said.

"There will also be temporary traffic management solution, in terms of traffic signals that we are planning to put in place in preparation for the back to school, but as soon as those plans are finalised, they will be known to the public," she added.