THE North-South link of Highway 2000 is far advanced and on track for the January 2016 completion date, despite a setback in the Caymanas area.

“We’re looking at 70 per cent complete for base and 52 per cent sub-base in section three, from Moneague to Mammee Bay. Construction of the two toll plazas in this section is approximately 30 per cent complete,” said Stephen Shaw, the director of technical services at the National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC).

Shaw said that section one, which will take travellers from Caymanas to Linstead, will also see the construction of two toll plazas. “Angels Toll Plaza is 20 per cent complete and Linstead is 75 per cent complete. It is worth noting that there is a toll plaza to be constructed at Caymanas; however, work on this has not yet started,” he said. “As it relates to the sub-base for section one, that is 60 per cent complete and the base course, 50 per cent. No asphaltic concrete works have begun in this section,” he added.

The technical services manager explained that completion of the highway has been pushed back, based on developments in the Caymanas area, but added that work on the highway from Caymanas Country Club to Mammee Bay, exclusive of the work to be done in the Caymanas area, was actually 89 per cent complete. “A change to the first 2.2 kilometres in the Caymanas area was recently approved,” he explained.

“The developer of the highway — Jamaica North South Company — requested a modification to the alignment, which was approved by the National Environment and Planning Agency. This was granted at the beginning of June this year. Subsequently, lands have been acquired and the contractor has begun working in the Caymanas area, so the entrance to the highway will now be approximately two kilometres west of what

was originally proposed,” Shaw added. The additional works at Caymanas, he said, will put the work on the entire highway back from 89 per cent to 81 per cent but made it clear that the contractor was working assiduously to bring the work in the Caymanas area in line with the rest of the highway as quickly as possible.

Shaw said that site clearing at Caymanas is 98 per cent complete and that concrete works have commenced.

He advised that a section of the eastbound lane on Mandela Highway will be realigned to travel over the entrance to the highway and that the contractor is currently working on the realigned portion of the roadway in the vicinity of the traffic lights at the access road to Caymanas Golf Club.