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EDITORIAL: Portmore - victim of flawed planning
published: Thursday | September 21, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Surely the patience of the people of Portmore, St. Catherine, is being put to the test yet again. With the new school term now in full swing, motorists have been complaining about grinding early-morning traffic jams over an extended area, contributing to frayed nerves and tempers.
Perhaps the toll system has become a victim of the Government's marketing strategies. Despite the agitation by some residents over the fees being charged to use the toll bridge, the absence of a real alternative and calls for a boycott, many people opted to pay the fee so as to be able to travel into Kingston with greater ease and feeling more rested from an extra hour or so of sleep. Now it appears that their confidence in the system is misplaced.
Poor planning and the snail-paced manner in which the Ministry of Transport and Works has gone about addressing infrastructure weaknesses are only contributing to the anger and cynicism of the long-suffering motorists.
There seem to be two principal problems associated with traversing that roadway. The bottleneck in the traffic suggests that if enough people take advantage of the upgraded road network to leave home later on the assumption of smoother travelling, then too many of them will be on the road at the same time. But that is precisely what the new highway was supposed to address. The second part of the problem is the inadequacy of Marcus Garvey Drive in its current state to handle the volume of traffic. The Government has put out a tender for a contract to have this road widened, according to Minister of Transport and Works Robert Pickersgill. But clearly, even after the contract has been granted, this project will not be finished any time soon.
When one adds the chaos caused by flooding on the roadway made worse by the new highway, then we see more evidence of continued bungling and poor urban planning.
In general, it appears the development process in Portmore has been occurring in reverse order. For decades Government has either built or approved the building of myriad housing schemes in Portmore. For example, the late Prime Minister Michael Manley announced with fanfare plans to construct 13,000 houses in Greater Portmore. That is on top of several thousands that already existed; since then thousands more have been built.
All this time Government was not putting in the necessary road infrastructure to support the movement of residents of this sprawling dormitory community situated west of Kingston Harbour. Usually, road networks precede or accompany housing developments. In the case of Portmore, where a town was being developed, the decision to upgrade the main connecting roadway to Kingston came decades after people were wooed to (re)locate to the area.
But, the new roadway is coming at a cost to residents. Seemingly, they must pay the cost for delayed and topsy-turvy development. But to add insult to injury the new road network is flawed. Why did the Transport and Works Ministry open the Portmore toll road before upgrading connecting roads such as Mandela Highway and Marcus Garvey Drive? <HR>The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.</DIV>
published: Thursday | September 21, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Surely the patience of the people of Portmore, St. Catherine, is being put to the test yet again. With the new school term now in full swing, motorists have been complaining about grinding early-morning traffic jams over an extended area, contributing to frayed nerves and tempers.
Perhaps the toll system has become a victim of the Government's marketing strategies. Despite the agitation by some residents over the fees being charged to use the toll bridge, the absence of a real alternative and calls for a boycott, many people opted to pay the fee so as to be able to travel into Kingston with greater ease and feeling more rested from an extra hour or so of sleep. Now it appears that their confidence in the system is misplaced.
Poor planning and the snail-paced manner in which the Ministry of Transport and Works has gone about addressing infrastructure weaknesses are only contributing to the anger and cynicism of the long-suffering motorists.
There seem to be two principal problems associated with traversing that roadway. The bottleneck in the traffic suggests that if enough people take advantage of the upgraded road network to leave home later on the assumption of smoother travelling, then too many of them will be on the road at the same time. But that is precisely what the new highway was supposed to address. The second part of the problem is the inadequacy of Marcus Garvey Drive in its current state to handle the volume of traffic. The Government has put out a tender for a contract to have this road widened, according to Minister of Transport and Works Robert Pickersgill. But clearly, even after the contract has been granted, this project will not be finished any time soon.
When one adds the chaos caused by flooding on the roadway made worse by the new highway, then we see more evidence of continued bungling and poor urban planning.
In general, it appears the development process in Portmore has been occurring in reverse order. For decades Government has either built or approved the building of myriad housing schemes in Portmore. For example, the late Prime Minister Michael Manley announced with fanfare plans to construct 13,000 houses in Greater Portmore. That is on top of several thousands that already existed; since then thousands more have been built.
All this time Government was not putting in the necessary road infrastructure to support the movement of residents of this sprawling dormitory community situated west of Kingston Harbour. Usually, road networks precede or accompany housing developments. In the case of Portmore, where a town was being developed, the decision to upgrade the main connecting roadway to Kingston came decades after people were wooed to (re)locate to the area.
But, the new roadway is coming at a cost to residents. Seemingly, they must pay the cost for delayed and topsy-turvy development. But to add insult to injury the new road network is flawed. Why did the Transport and Works Ministry open the Portmore toll road before upgrading connecting roads such as Mandela Highway and Marcus Garvey Drive? <HR>The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.</DIV>
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