Clarendon residents fume over Salt River road works

Residents in Longville Park, Clarendon are fuming over unfinished works along a section of the roadway in Salt River.

They have accused the National Works Agency (NWA) of poor work which they claim has put the lives of motorists at risk.

The NWA indicated on Friday that a section of the road would be closed on Sunday to facilitate the replacement of a damaged HDPE pipe culvert.

The agency had indicated that the culvert collapsed in December 2022, reducing the corridor to single-lane traffic.

However, the road works are to be completed.

The upset residents say the unfinished works pose a hazard.

They also complained about signage to alert motorists.

The residents claimed that the situation contributed to at least two crashes.

One such motorist is Longville Park resident, Mark Belto, who said that he had an accident on Sunday night.

"There is no light on the road and it is extremely dark. That work was shoddily done. There should have been signs and reflectors all over. At least 500 metres away we should have had the first sign, and probably another two signs in another 250 metres away indicating to road users that the road is blocked, single lane traffic, or something," said Belto, who is upset about the damage to his vehicle.

NWA communication manager Stephen Shaw told The Gleaner on Monday that effort is being made to complete the works by today.

"The work remained unfinished yesterday (Sunday)as the team had some technical challenges. The road was, however, reopened to single-lane traffic and the unfinished area cordoned off.

“The repairs will be completed today. The road will, however, not be repaved before another week or so in order to allow for further compaction to take place."

- Olivia Brown

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