Everest Drive, in the constituency of Kingston Eastern and Port Royal, is the first of several roads on which work has commenced under the Government’s $45-billion Shared Prosperity Through Accelerated Improvement to Our Road Network (SPARK) Project.
The road, which is approximately 1.1 kilometres in length, is located in the community of Bayshore Park, Harbour View.
The scope of works being done in this area includes total rehabilitation of the roadway to include replacement of the base material (foundation), six inches of crushed aggregate, 1.5 inches of asphalted concrete for the driving surface, drainage, sidewalks, road signage and markings, pedestrian walks, and speed bumps where necessary. These specifications are to be used across all project areas.
Ducts that will accommodate fibre-optic cables at a later date will also be included.
Addressing journalists during a tour of the project site on Monday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness advised that approximately 600 roads will be extensively rehabilitated to a standard that should ensure a lifespan of seven to 15 years, pointing out that this will have a positive impact on Jamaica’s economy.
He informed that the SPARK programme is divided into two components.
“The element that we are launching here today is the community road element, meaning they could be Parish Council (Municipal Corporation) roads, they could be roads in subdivisions, or roads that are not considered main roads under the NWA (National Works Agency) Act,” he outlined.
“We intend to start rapidly right across the island. So although we are starting here (Everest Drive) today (Monday), other constituencies and other communities can expect, within short order, to see a mobilisation of work assets in their areas for the roads they have expressed interest in being rehabilitated,” he stated.
Regarding main thoroughfares to be addressed under the programme, Holness said the Government and the NWA will direct resources to those that have national strategic value.
“[Those that] help with connectivity, they are critical for production, and they are critical for security reasons; those roadways will be repaired under the other half of the SPARK programme,” he indicated.
Holness said the budget for the road programme is a total of $40 billion, which will see $20 billion allocated for community roads and $20 billion for main roads. The budget also includes an additional $5 billion for water-line improvements.
The SPARK programme is a national programme, though it is constituency executed. It is a programme designed to ensure that Jamaica’s road network is in the best state.
Director of Major Projects at the NWA, Richard McHargh, told JIS News that China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) has been awarded the contract for work to be undertaken on roads across all parishes under the project.
The work will be undertaken in four packages, commencing in St Thomas, Kingston and St Andrew.
These will be followed by St Catherine and Clarendon; Manchester, St Elizabeth, Westmoreland and Hanover; and St James, Trelawny, St Mary, St Ann and Portland.
“They have been awarded all four packages and we expect top-quality work from them, so at the end of the day, the persons in this environment, in the vicinity of Everest Drive [and elsewhere where the project is executed] can expect to have a safe, reliable road that will last at minimum between seven and 15 years,” he said.
– JIS News
