THE arguments that the Mandela Highway is a suitable alternative to the Portmore-Kingston toll road have been severely weakened by Hurricane Wilma, and now there is concern in Portmore that its residents could be trapped if a major event occurs

The traffic bottlenecks and a waterlogged freeway of three weeks ago are still fresh memories for residents who sat in traffic for up to 10 tortuous hours heading to and from work.

The roads remained clogged at peak traffic hours even into last week.

“Portmore is in jeopardy,” said Mayor George Lee.

“I am not comfortable that if there is a disaster we can get out of Portmore.”

Engineers and environmentalists say commuters should not expect any change in the incidents of flooding between Ferry, St Catherine and adjoining Six-Miles, St Andrew for now.

“In the event of consistent and heavy showers, the area will flood again. It is built through a wetland and there will always be water there,” said Hopeton Heron, chief executive officer of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and president of the Jamaica Institution of Engineers (JIE).

“With the recent rainfall way above average, those flood levels should have been expected,” said Heron, an electrical engineers.

Last month, Mandela Highway, the major artery into the capital city, was cut off by extensive flooding after several days of rains from the tail-end of the hurricane.

According to Lee, Mother Nature’s judgment seems to have trumped the decision of the court, referring to one of two suits that were thrown out by the high court challenging the route as a suitable alternative to the toll road.

“The court has spoken but Mandela Highway cannot be accepted as an alternative until it is fixed,” Lee told the Sunday Observer.

He called for a third lane to be added to either side of the highway to take the anticipated increase in traffic when the Portmore toll road is officially opened.

Environmentalist Eleanor Jones contends that it was the dumping of the swampland adjacent to the east bound side of the roadway that created the flooding problem.

“It is a wetland that receives run off from the adjoining hills. This section has been in-filled, so there is not much area for the water to be absorbed,” said Jones.

The desilting of the rivers is also of paramount importance, Jones emphasized, since “water will be in the area and needs to be carried away.

What you have to do is facilitate the run off of water.”

Government has considered dredging the Duhaney River to alleviate the problem at New Haven. The National works Agency designed the project back in 2002, but has shelved it because of lack of funding.

Prime Minister PJ Patterson, on a tour of the flooded out highway a week ago, said the solution under consideration now was to raise the road.

Jones said that while raising the road is a feasible solution, proper drainage procedures, preceded by an environmental impact assessment that includes hydraulic and hydrologic checks, must be done.

Howard Chin, immediate past president of the JIE, says simply raising the road would not stop the flooding.

“Some time ago someone gave the idiotic approval to dump the area beside the road to build factories. That move has left water nowhere to go but across the road,” said Chin, adding that the removal of vegetation has exacerbated the problem.

He said the area was a large swamp, up to 30 feet deep in parts, which had acted like a sponge, soaking up excess water.

NWA communication officer NWA Petra-Kene Williams says the medium term plan for Mandela is to raise the height of the west-bound carriageway but she was unsure when the work would commence.

Transport and works minister Robert Pickersgill has said the job requires millions of dollars to execute.

According to the NWA, flooding in the area occurred because there was swampland adjacent to the west-bound carriageway, and additionally, the Duhaney River and Fresh River passed there on their way into the harbour.

“Because of the geography, there was not much NWA could do in order to get the water off the corridor,” Williams said, noting the appropriate remedy would be to raise both sides of the roadway.

The east bound carriageway was raised some time ago.

fosterp@jamaicaobserver.com