THE Government has decided to fast-track the construction of a new 1.4 kilometre, two-lane road to reduce the congestion between Mandela Highway in St Catherine and Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who signed the agreement to build the US$1-million road at Jamaica House yesterday, told the press that it would be especially useful to businesses involved in the movement of containers in the area.

However, he noted that plans for the road, which will run from Chesterfield Drive to Marcus Garvey Drive, were only being sped up, as it was originally planned as part of the buildout of Caymanas in St Catherine as a “multipurpose, light industrial, commercial, and residential Special Economic Zone (SEZ)”.

He said that the original plan was to build a road alongside the rail track, between Marcus Garvey Drive and Caymanas, as part of its overall development and traffic management strategy.

“The Government has decided to bring forward the construction of a segment of the new road,” he said, while pointing out that several other components of the project will be added later.

He stated that the construction of the new road will create dedicated access for traffic coming from the busy Mandela Highway area, which leads in and out out of the capital city Kingston, and should be completed in four to five weeks.

Holness’S announcement is the latest measure introduced by the Government, with the support of the National Works Agency and the Jamaica Constabulary Force, to deal with traffic congestion in St Andrew Southern and neighbouring urban constituencies, including his own St Andrew West Central, due to the efforts to complete five legacy road improvement projects to improve Jamaica’s road network.

He admitted that the current projects, which also include improvements to water supply and sewerage systems, have been affecting travel time and probably productivity.

“We do not take it lightly, and we always knew that there could be significant disruption and dislocation if these works were not properly handled and coordinated,” he said.

However, the prime minister added that “sometimes, even the best laid plans get disrupted, as unforeseen things happen”.

He gave as examples of the disruptions, a major water main breakage on Constant Spring Road and a major fire on Ashenheim Road, both of which occurred last week.

During the media briefing, Holness signed the contract agreement with China Harbour Engineering Company for the construction of the new road.

He promised that with the completion of the five projects, the capacity of the Corporate Area’s road network to ensure ease of travel, travel time and connectivity with outlying parishes, including St Mary, Portland, St Thomas, and Clarendon, will be significantly improved.