Henry to jump-start Mount Rosser leg of Highway 2000

TRANSPORT AND Works Minister Mike Henry is devising a new plan to complete the stalled Mount Rosser leg of Highway 2000.

Work on that leg of the highway has been in limbo for some time as myriad problems pushed the cost well above the initial projection.

But Henry told The Gleaner that the project could resume shortly, as he is to take possible solutions to his Cabinet colleagues.

"What I want to do is to find a way to connect it to Spanish Town (St Catherine) and to connect it to Ocho Rios (St Ann)," said Henry.

"Even if we spend a further US$30 million to fix it, that will not do any good if it is not connected all the way through," Henry added.

Value assessment

Last year, the Government ordered a value assessment on the Mount Rosser leg of the highway after it was faced with a possible US$50 million additional bill.

At that time, Henry had reported that, with between J$5 billion and J$6.5 billion already spent, it was unlikely that the project would be scrapped.

The four-lane dual carriageway which is to link St Catherine with St Ann is being undertaken by TransJamaican Highway/Bouygues, the developers of Highway 2000.

The highway is to begin at the Bog Walk/Linstead bypass and avoid the hills of Mount Rosser before ending in Claremont, just outside of Moneague, St Ann.

But Henry said the highway would not work unless it takes motorists directly from Spanish Town to Ocho Rios.

Ground was broken on the 24-kilometre Mount Rosser leg of the highway in July 2007 by then Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, with a scheduled construction period of 30 months.

Abandoned alignment

After numerous studies, the developers abandoned the original alignment of the highway through Worthy Park and Point Hill, using instead the existing Linstead/Bog Walk route.

"We are at a standstill because research has shown that there is problem in building the highway around that alignment," Henry reported last August.

He also reported that the rock formation found after the work started required Bouygues to change the incline of the planned roadway, increasing the cost.

The Mount Rosser leg of Highway 2000 was initially designed as a 25-kilometre, four-lane dual carriageway.

It had an initial price tag of US$99 million, which was expected to cover land acquisition, road construction, the building of a toll plaza and the installation of utilities, over a 30-month period.