Montego Bay — The dualisation of Howard Cooke Boulevard in Montego Bay should begin in the next three months.

The work, which will include replacing all the roundabouts on the Boulevard with traffic lights and putting in two more lanes along Alice Eldemire Drive right back to Pye River, is expected to last for a year.

“The project now being implemented is to dualise Howard Cooke and Alice Eldemire, (there will be) four lanes all the way back to Pye River,” explained head of the National Works Agency, Ivan Anderson at a recent briefing in the western city. “The (proposed) Montego Bay bypass will then take up the section from Pye River to just where segment one (of the north coast highway project) stops. That will then take in the whole of Howard Cooke, Alice Eldemire and Bogue Road.”

There has been some progress made on the long awaited bypass road, which is aimed at reducing traffic snarls inside the city. Transport Minister Bobby Pickersgill said that a Malaysian team has completed the design, which is now being reviewed.

Meanwhile, the transport ministry is taking steps to minimise the bumps along the Montego River Bridge that now hamper traffic flow along the Boulevard.

According to Anderson, they are now getting quotations from Ashtrom and Bosung to replace the expansion joints which the troublesome bumps now cover.

Two bridges have already been built as part of the Boulevard expansion project, which will cover a total distance of 2.8 kilometres. The bridges are part of a £14.9 million contract, being undertaken by the joint venture team of Kier Construction Ltd and Mabey & Johnson Ltd.

One has been erected near the Catherine Hall entertainment centre and the other near the KFC Mall.

“Most of the negotiations for the Howard Cooke (work) team have already been completed. What is now being finalised is the Alice Eldemire team,” Anderson said.