Dear Editor,

This is an open letter to the Minister of Transport and Works Mike Henry.

About six Tuesdays ago the residents of Queensborough Gardens and its environs were advised that there would be a meeting at the Meadowbrook High School to discuss the construction of a bridge over the Queensborough Ford. At the meeting, we were told that during the construction of the bridge the traffic from Duhaney Park, Perkins Boulevard, Rock Hall, Red Hills, Forest Hills, etc, would be diverted through the Queensborough subdivision and a Bailey Bridge would be constructed over the gully to facilitate this indiscretion.

The road chosen for the detour was William Place, a 30-foot wide dead end which serves 10 lots in the subdivision.

In a Power Point Presentation by the National Works Agency, it was admitted that there was no loss of life because of motorists trying to cross the ford when it was flooded, and in the past 11 years only four cars were affected. In light of this, the Queensborough citizens were amazed that this project was to be implemented when 50 per cent of the bridges islandwide urgently need repairing. Residents who use the bridges, in Enfield, St Mary, Alley, Clarendon, and Kintyre in St Andrew and others who have protested publicly have had no relief despite the danger to life and limb.

It is even more amazing that this project is being done when the government is so strapped for cash to do vital things, when a simple barrier blocking motorists from crossing the flooded ford (like the entrance to the Bog Walk Gorge) would suffice.

If the ford bridge is a bad, expensive idea, the traffic diversion through William Place is a no-brainer. If the volume of traffic to be inconvenienced by the construction is minimal, travelling along Knightsdale Drive, Red Hills Road along Valentine Drive (which is a bus route) back on to Molynes Road would have minimum delay. If the traffic volume is great, a 30-foot wide subdivision road is inadequate both physically and technically to accommodate it and would put our citizens, especially our children, at great risk.

All roads in Queenborough Gardens are contained in Certificate of Title Volume 1142 Folio 5 and William Place is not designated as a main road. The registered proprietor is neither the Commissioner of Lands nor the National Works Agency.

What is galling to the citizens of Queensborough is that recently we have seen the contruction of guardrail barriers along Toronto Avenue, to prevent motorists from using the Greenvale Road to Toronto Avenue route through this residential community to beat the traffic delays along Molynes Road during the morning and evening peak hours. This arrangement has been duplicated in many other communities. Also, trucks and buses are now banned from travelling through the Cassava Piece Road (which is slightly narrower than William Place) to protect the safety of the residents.

Mr Minister, we see where heavy-duty vehicles have been prevented from using Fern Gully to prevent the destruction of the ferns. Are ferns more important than the life and limb of our children living on William Place?

The delays of traffic because of pipe-laying in the Bog Walk Gorge have made motorists adjust their travel time by about 20 minutes. Is not the safety of our children worth more than 20 minutes’ delay in traffic?

Ainsworth Dick

Kingston 19

ainsworthdick@hotmail.com