MONTEGO BAY, St James — Member of Parliament (MP) for St James North Western Dr Horace Chang has given an assurance that there will be less traffic congestion on the streets of Montego Bay within the next two weeks.

That is the time he expects it will take the National Works Agency (NWA) to synchronise traffic lights between Ironshore and Reading, communities that are on opposite ends of the city.

“Once they are synchronised they can use the cameras attached to the JamaicaEye system and to the various intersections to improve the real-time management of traffic so you know when to increase green and when to reduce across the town. The connectivity ranges from all lights from Ironshore to Reading,” Dr Chang, who is also deputy prime minister and minister of national security, told the Jamaica Observer.

He anticipates that there should be “immediate relief” when the NWA steps up its traffic management, coupled with more cops from the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB) being added to those already stationed between St James and Hanover.

“The idea is to see what we can do in the short term to relieve the Montego Bay traffic. So we will have some additional traffic officers and we will be increasing the level of co-ordination in traffic,” Dr Chang said.

He also promised that until the completion of the Montego Bay Perimeter Road project, which is expected to significantly reduce the traffic jams plaguing much of the city, the NWA will put in short-term measures that will also help the traffic flow easier.

“[It] will further look at some small works that can be done to improve intersections, such as increasing the length of turning lanes, and so forth,” said the MP.

“That will be over the next six weeks — as opposed to [other steps taken within] the next two weeks — until we can get the redevelopment with the whole highway system around Montego Bay,” Dr Chang added.

Another component of the plan will require the commercial sector and police working together to coordinate and optimise traffic movement.

“We need to get a schedule of tourism activities; for instance, when 50, 60-plus flights come in on a weekend, we need to be aware when they are coming; we need to get a full schedule of the shift system of the BPO business process outsourcing services, and the critical high-volume activities in terms of their timing and activity in Montego Bay,” said the MP.

Last week, Dr Chang joined head of PSTEB Gary McKenzie, NWA traffic manager Michael Saunderson, and private stakeholders from the tourism and industrial sectors for a tour of roads in Montego Bay as well as in Lucea, Hanover.