OCHO RIOS, St Ann — In an attempt to reduce traffic congestion and collisions on the White River main road in St Ann, the Ministry of Local Government has allocated $10 million for repairs to be done.

Work will be done on three sections of road, according to National Works Agency (NWA) Regional Manager Devon Lilly who is managing the project.

“Three sections from Milford Road back to White River will be fixed. The challenge we are having now is the traffic congestion, so we are working with the contractor to see how best we can resolve that,” he said.

Work is expected to begin soon and will last for six weeks.

“We have seen the critical nature of the road so the NWA, along with the contractors, will decide how they are going to approach it and get the work done,” Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie told journalists during a tour of St Ann North Eastern last Thursday.

The White River Main road, which is a part of the north coast leg of Highway 2000, is heavily traversed by motorists heading to and from Portland into Montego Bay via St Ann.

Inspector of police at Ocho Rios Police Station Christopher Faulkner welcomed news of the impending road work.

“The road condition is posing a huge problem for us; especially in the mornings, traffic congestion [is seen] regularly. Also, we have been having a lot of accidents as a result of poor road conditions because persons are swerving to avoid potholes, resulting in traffic collisions, so we are really grateful that this will be repaired,” he said.