By Dionne Rose, Staff ReporterTHE NATIONAL Works Agency (NWA) will be improving pedestrian safety at the Merl Grove High School in Kingston for the reopening of the new school term in September. Meanwhile plans to construct an overhead bridge have been put on hold.
Michael Saunderson, Operations Manager of the Traffic Manage-ment Unit at the NWA told The Gleaner this week that the pedestrian safety measures included the construction of a pedestrian crossing on Constant Spring Road on the south side of Gore Terrace as well as the modification of the traffic signals to allow all vehicular traffic to stop to allow pedestrians (especially Merl Grove students) to cross directly from Gore Terrace into the school.
THE PROJECT
Mr. Saunderson said that the new pedestrian crossing, when in operation, would be the first to operate in that manner. Giving an update on the project, Mr. Saunderson said, "all wiring modifications for pedestrian signals have been completed. What is remaining is to have the pedestrian gate in the school fence built". Mr. John Wright, who is in charge of constructing the pedestrian gate, said it should be in place before September.
Dr. Alfred Sangster, Chairman of the Merl Grove High School Board has expressed satisfaction with the work done so far by the government agency and pointed out that the intention is to still have the overhead bridge built.
"The overhead bridge would be the long term solution but it will be a year before it is built," he said.
He noted that one of the problems in having the bridge built was the lack of funding, but he said that the school was working with the private sector and the NWA to eventually construct the bridge. So far, he said, $1 million has been pledged by the private sector to construct the bridge, which the school was in dialogue with the University of Technology (UTech) to design.
Traffic irregularities at the Merl Grove High School came to the attention of the public in January this year, following the death of 12 year-old Shakara Harris, a student at that school, who was fatally hit by a vehicle as she made her way to school.
Meanwhile, Paul Clemetson, Director of the Road Safety Unit in the Ministry of Transport and Works said that the Unit would be continuing its programmes in schools with the distribution of road safety literatures and presentations. He said that in preparation for the upcoming school term, the Unit was working with the NWA to repaint pedestrian crossings across the island. So far the NWA said that 176 of the 426 pedestrian crossings have been repainted with the intention to complete the project by the end of the year.
The NWA also said that intersections were being repainted with thermoplastic paint, which can last up to three years as opposed to the regular paint, which lasts for only three months.
