KINGSTON, Jamaica — The National Works Agency (NWA) has closed a section of the John Golding Road in St Andrew to vehicular traffic following the collapse of a pipe culvert in the vicinity of the Hope Valley Experimental Primary and Infant School.

The NWA said it is now moving to secure the affected section of the roadway and erect the necessary signs to alert motorists of the road closure.

The breakaway has affected the services of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), which has since advised that the alternative route for the affected number 77 and 78 buses is from Hope Road onto Garden Boulevard, Mona Road and then onto August Town.

According to Manager, Communication and Customer Services at the NWA, Stephen Shaw, the plastic pipe culvert appears to have been previously burnt out from beneath the roadway, causing the road to be severely undermined during the recent flood rains.

He said the replacement of the culvert and the reinstatement of the road are being treated with the utmost urgency as a number of critical facilities and institutions are located along the roadway. The plan is to install a concrete, fire-resistant culvert.

John Golding Road is a critical roadway in the Mona community connecting Old Hope Road to Mona Road.