The Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre in St Andrew, which has been completed since October, should open for business on January 15, Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry announced.

But this will happen without the overhead pedestrian bridge – one of the structures which initially delayed the opening – Henry said, as he was still awaiting the design for the bridge which he requested on his first tour of the centre in October.

“The overhead bridge – to design and add – is going to take time but I have asked for it and I still have not got what was the design,” Henry said.

He added that such a bridge could take up to six months to be completed and as such the centre would have to be opened without it.

Andrew Watt, the centre’s project manager, said an initial design was done for the overhead pedestrian bridge and was presented to the previous administration.

“It was discussed and an initial design was made but that later died,” Watt told the Observer in October. At the time he promised to present a copy of the plan and initial estimate to Henry.

The proposed relocation of the landmark Clock Tower in Half-Way-Tree was also among the factors delaying the opening of the centre. However, Henry said he was no longer contemplating removing the clock until he had had a chance to better analyse the situation.

“I am waiting to see because I am trying to build a third lane of traffic up Hagley Park Road as well as looking at where the gridlock is and doing simulated tests with some buses over this week,” he told the Observer.

Other factors which had delayed the opening the multimillion-dollar transport centre was the construction of roadways in the vicinity of the centre and the tender process for the retail shops.

The minister said, too, that a sewer pipe in the vicinity of the Pavilion Mall, which is nearer the surface than was anticipated, had also contributed to the delay in opening the centre.

The $4.7-billion, double-level transportation centre boasts passenger holding areas and spacious bus bays, which can also accommodate taxis. Other facilities include 17 commercial shops; a 900-foot food court; four commercial kiosks; 17 public toilets with two equipped for the disabled; and an office building to accommodate staff from the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), and the Port Authority of Jamaica, which will be managing the terminal.