By Adrian Frater, News Editor 
Bumper-to-bumper traffic in Montego Bay.
WESTERN BUREAU:
DESPITE THE improvement in traffic flow as a consequence of the $720 million dualisation of the Howard Cooke Boulevard, which was completed earlier this year, traffic continues to be a nightmare for motorists and pedestrians in Montego Bay, especially in the early morning hours and late afternoons.
"If you don't plan your time and your route carefully, getting around Montego Bay in the early morning and mid to late afternoon is generally a big headache because of the long lines of traffic," said Montego Bay building contractor Errol Lamey. "In some instances, it is better to park your vehicle and walk if you are in walking distance of where you want to go."
When the Howard Cooke dualisation, which added an additional two lanes of traffic to the city's road network, was first proposed, it was generally felt that it would have significantly eased the perennial traffic congestion in areas such as Bogue, the Alice Eldemire Drive, Howard Cooke Boulevard and the areas in and around Gloucester Avenue and Queen's Drive areas. However, that has not been the case.
"The problem with Montego Bay is the circulation flow. You have too many one-way streets, which result in numerous conflicting points," said Stephen Shaw, the National Works Agency (NWA) community relations officer for western Jamaica. "We are now looking at traffic plans for Montego Bay to decide on what can be done to properly manage the traffic flow."
While noting that all the details in the traffic plans are not yet available, Mr. Shaw told The Sunday Gleaner that the NWA would be meeting with all the various stakeholders in the city, inclusive of the St. James Parish Council, the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the police. He said he hoped such a meeting will yield a plan capable of freeing up the movement of traffic in the current problem areas.
BUMPER TO BUMPER
"It is usually a bumper-to-bumper situation between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. as workers and students from areas such as Savanna-la-Mar (Westmoreland), Lucea (Hanover) and Falmouth (Trelawny) come in and out of Montego Bay for school and work," continued Mr. Lamey, who said he was anxious to see what will unfold from the proposed traffic plan. "People who understand the traffic situation have learnt that it is better to move around in the mid-day hours or late afternoon."
While not slighting the traffic management plans under consideration, businessman Winston Dear, who is also the president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, thinks some of the existing roads have to be widened if the city is to properly accommodate the extra traffic which is expected to come the city's way on the completion of the Green Pond and Bogue Housing development and the hotel rooms and shopping centre now under construction in the Rose Hall area.
"Whatever development we are doing, we must take the expanding of our roads into consideration," said Mr. Dear, while addressing a Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) parish dialogue on Household Expenditure Survey in Montego Bay last week. "With some 3,500 new families expected in the Green Pond and Bogue housing development and an expected 1.7 cars per household, we are looking at an additional 5,000 cars to deal with."
