MANDEVILLE, Manchester — A Manchester councillor and the parish’s fire chief are appealing to the National Works Agency (NWA) to consider installing escape lanes for out-of-control trucks on the crash-prone Spur Tree Hill main road.

However, NWA Communications Manager Stephen Shaw said there is no plan to build escape lanes on the current configuration of the main road.

“With the road as currently aligned there are no plans for any such facility. [However], there are plans to shift alignment as part of a new road under the Southern Coastal Improvement Programme…,” Shaw told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday.

The Southern Coastal Highway is projected to connect St Thomas in the east, Clarendon and Manchester in central Jamaica, and eventually points west and north including St Elizabeth and Montego Bay.

There are no timelines for completion of the entire project although Shaw said the “plan is taking shape”.

Regarding the eventual route, he said the “conversation is still taking place; nothing is cast in concrete”.

The crucial Spur Tree main road links Mandeville and its environs to St Elizabeth and points west. Heavily laden, slow-moving trucks often hinder traffic on the steep, difficult hill, and there have been a number of fatal crashes involving trucks down the years.

Road safety experts say inexperienced drivers, overweight and defective vehicles are among the main causes for mishaps on the Spur Tree Hill main road.

Speaking at Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Manchester Municipal Corporation, Councillor Jones Oliphant (People’s National Party, Mandeville Division) said an escape lane would help to save lives on the road.

“There is a section there where it seems as if trucks always run off the road. I am wondering if a special run-off area should be implemented so that if brakes or anything fail a driver, they can go in that lane rather than go down those three corners where those accidents happen,” he said.

His suggestion was supported by Jamaica Fire Brigade Deputy Superintendent Rohan Powell, who noted the existence of escape lanes on the Edward Seaga Highway.

“They really serve a valuable purpose and maybe it is something that the National Works Agency can look into to see how and in what areas we could create [them],” said Powell.

He added that the fire brigade has seen an increase in calls resulting from oil and sand spills on the Spur Tree main road and the Melrose Bypass, which is also in Manchester.

“Overladen trucks are creating a nightmare… They [drivers] seem to be servicing their units on the roadway and just leaking out all the oil, posing a serious challenge to our motorists and we are seeing an increase in the number of accidents,” he said.

Councillor McArthur Collins (People’s National Party, New Green Division) agreed with Powell.

Collins called on the police to clamp down on truckers parking at undesignated spots on the main road.

“Some of the trucks, they park anywhere. Three, four, five trucks are parked in some areas and I would like to see the support of the police in those areas. Lots of motorists are just escaping accidents,” he said.

“I would like to see the police have more checks on these areas before we have any accidents,” he added.