THE Constant Spring Road expansion work which began in February last year is roughly 70 per cent complete, while the Hagley Park Road project is over 80 per cent finished, according to Stephen Shaw, communications manager at the National Works Agency (NWA).

He said that the bridges at Portia Simpson Miller Square are complete and the focus now is on completing the retaining walls that form part of the approach roads.

“We are constructing eight such walls and four have already been completed,” Shaw told the Jamaica Observer yesterday. “We have also paved a section of the corridor, between Mahoe Drive and Carpenter Avenue. More than 90 per cent of the storm water drains have been done. A similar percentage of median barriers have also been completed.”

With regard to the Constant Spring Road project, he noted that pipelines are still being laid, but said this work is about 90 per cent complete.

“There is about 800 metres of pipe-laying works to be completed. We have paved 3.2 km of the 4-km stretch of road. The paving works include both layers being done in the vicinity of Clifton Boulevard and Cassava Piece Road,” he reported.

The NWA spokesman told the Observer that the agency is striving to have the project completed by the end of summer.

He gave a similar timeline for the anticipated completion of the Hagley Park and Portia Simpson Miller Square works in an interview with RJR last week.

“We are now at a stage where some delicate issues are to be addressed. These include relocating transmission waterlines between Hillman Road and Mary Brown’s Corner. The pipeline in this area is not only old and fragile, but also sits very close to the road surface. We intend to complete the laying of all other lines before relocating these lines in order to minimise the interruptions to customers of the National Water Commission (NWC).

According to the NWA, the benefits to commuters on completion of the project will be the widening of the roadway from two to four lanes with sidewalks and concrete medians, right-turning lanes at select intersections, improved intersections with upgraded and new traffic signals and pedestrian facilities, improvement of storm water drainage systems, improvement of NWC water mains and sewerage systems, among others.

The improvements, it said, will also reduce travel time along the corridor and eliminate conflict points.

A total of US$19 million is being spent on the Constant Spring Road project.