MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Prime Minister Andrew Holness has reiterated the Government’s long-term plan for the south coast highway to be extended all the way to Montego Bay in the north-western end of the island.

Work on the US$188-million May Pen to Williamsfield leg of Highway 2000 is fast advancing and is expected to be completed ahead of the March 2023 deadline.

The project — which will reduce travel time between Kingston, Mandeville and points west — was originally scheduled for completion in October 2022.

“This highway which is being built will be extended going all the way to the south coast, going down to St Elizabeth through Santa Cruz, and connecting back into Montego Bay. We do have that long-term plan for that road and a spur that would go around Mandeville,” Holness told the ground-breaking ceremony for a business process outsourcing complex in Mandeville on Thursday.

On the western end of Mandeville, the crash-prone Spur Tree main that links the town and its environs to St Elizabeth and points west has been the scene of fatal crashes down the years, with motorists calling for a bypass.

Heavily laden, slow-moving trucks often hinder traffic on the steep, difficult hill.

Successive administrations have pledged to build a bypass road for Spur Tree Hill with plans to incorporate the bypass into a highway project.

However, there has been no timeline given for the commencement and completion of the project.