Some residents of Prior Park, St James, are fed up with the length of time it is taking to repair the main road. 

However, authorities are asking for more patience while explaining the various challenges encountered in the effort to complete the roadworks. 

The $3.7 million road rehabilitation project is being done by C.O. Williams Construction under contract from the Ministry of Transport and Works, and funded by the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean. The project management company is Stonesbridge Construction Inc.

Some residents, who requested anonymity, complained about the work. 

A Prior Park Crescent resident said he had to constantly wash his vehicle as a result of mud. He also criticised the width of the sidewalk on a section of the road, saying there was four feet of sidewalk on both sides, and large vehicles could no longer pass each other comfortably.

“This is too long, man, ridiculously long. These fellows need to put in some extra time and get the road finished.

“Look, at the rate they’re going, this is going to run us until next year. This is what has been going on, month after month after month after month. It’s been very inconvenient,” he said. 

Another resident said they were told the work was to be completed by April. He said while they appreciated the work was being done, it was taking too long, and there was minimal communication. 

“They claim that they had to dig up the whole road and put it back down. We don’t want to sound ungrateful, but you know, every week I have to pay $100 to clean my car. And some mornings you get up and the road blocked, you don’t get a prior notice. There is no communication from the contractors, and I think people should be treated with some level of courtesy,” he said.

A woman said they had not expected the work to take so long, and she now had to plan her exits carefully. 

“You’ve got to plan beforehand when you’re going somewhere. I have to give myself additional time when
I have to go anywhere,”she said.

Not everyone is upset with the work, however. One man said he realised there had been a lot of complications, and felt sure the road would be stronger and last longer once completed.

Workers on the site revealed they had been struggling against the weather, unexpected cave systems, the scope of the work being increased due to infrastructural weaknesses and accommodating utility companies.

In a release, project management consultant with Stonesbridge Construction Inc., Craig Archer, explained that while the project commenced in January and was originally scheduled to be completed in six months, further excavation of the site revealed the need for additional work to ensure a more durable base for the road, and this added approximately two months to the duration of the roadworks.

“The original scope was for a deep milling, a more straightforward exercise to be finished in approximately six months, but when the contractor started excavation south of the roundabout, there was no suitable
sub-base material found below the road,” the engineer said.

“So, where it was originally anticipated that the work would go down to about two feet and build up from there, the contractor had to excavate down to about six feet in many areas before finding rock and that more extensive excavation extended the completion time for the project.”

Archer, however, assured residents the roadworks would be completed in just a matter of weeks and offered an apology for the “unavoidable” delay, explaining that any lull observed by residents was likely the result of specialised artisans pausing as they awaited delivery of materials.

Responding to concerns about the width of the road in some areas, he explained the road had been constructed in line with agreed engineering standards, but noted that, due to the area being a residential district, the prospect of encroachment on people’s properties and the complexities and time frames involved
in land acquisition were taken into consideration. 

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