TRELAWNY, Jamaica— Mayor of Falmouth and chairman of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC) Councillor C Junior Gager is appealing to the National Works Agency (NWA) for the installation of two traffic lights at two intersections leading off the North Coast Highway into the town of Falmouth.

Gager is lobbying for a traffic signal to be placed at the intersection of the road at Bogue Gate leading into Falmouth and the other on the road off the highway under the bridge leading into Falmouth.

“There is an urgent need for these two stop lights, one under the bridge and the other at Bogue Gate because of the traffic congestion that motorists have to encounter at these two intersections, coupled with the indiscipline behaviour of drivers at these two locations,” Gager told Observer Online.

Head of the Trelawny Police Division, Superintendent Winston Milton supports Gager’s advocacy, citing that police personnel have to be placed at these two locations at peak hours to monitor the flow of traffic.

“We support it (the call). We have to be putting police officers at the bridge to regulate the flow of traffic, particularly in the peak hours and on Wednesdays when we have the bend down market and when we have cruise ships in port,” Superintendent Milton said.

“What we recognise is that the motorists exiting Bogue Gate have a difficult time doing so because of the volume of traffic on the North Coast Highway. So we figure that it should be regulated and have a signalised junction there to facilitate the smooth flow of traffic,” he said.

He added that the erection of the stoplights will result in the reduction of motor vehicle collisions in the Bogue Gate area.

But chief executive officer of the National Works Agency, E G Hunter revealed that the accumulated cost of both traffic lights is $40million, which the agency can’t afford at this time.

“We are way into the financial year now so the probability we won’t have $40million there waiting for a request from a particular location. But diverse organisations and individuals can make requests, we will examine them and to the extent they are technically feasible and the funding is in place we will, until then we wait,” Hunter said.