MONTEGO BAY, St James — THE National Works Agency (NWA) is moving to improve road safety along the Elegant Corridor in St James through the implementation of a project aimed at reducing excessive speeding along that thoroughfare.

The project involves the installation of rumble strips in the vicinity of the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort, which has seen an alarmingly high incidence of fatalities, due in part to excessive speeding.

Rumble strips are a series of small raised pavement markers, which are installed in the road surface to produce noise and vibration whenever tyres come into contact with them.

The installation, it is believed, will alert motorists of the need to slow down in anticipation of danger.

Community Relations Officer for the NWA Western Region, Janel Ricketts, says that rumble strips are now being installed at three points along the corridor.

“These are in the vicinity of the resort [Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort], the nearby Rubis Gas Station, and the Coral Gardens Police Station.”

The project will also involve the installation of additional signs and the re-marking of sections of the roadway.

Ricketts added that the agency will also be targeting the Blue Diamond intersection, which is also located along a section of the Elegant Corridor.

“This area has been a sore point, as some motorists have been using the soft shoulder as a through road, creating an unsafe environment for pedestrians trying to navigate this busy intersection,” she told the Observer West, adding that the NWA will be installing ceramic road markings, six inches in height along the affected section of the soft shoulder.

The project, she said, is being financed by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), and is expected to be completed by the end of next week.

She explained that these activities, along with the Elegant Corridor Lighting Project now underway, should work together to improve the safety along this stretch of the heavily traversed roadway.