MONTEGO BAY, St James — A traffic light at the heavily used Barnett Street turn-off towards Westgate Hills has finally been repaired. Out of commission for more than three years, the lights were put back into service on Tuesday.

It is one of three located at major intersections in the western city that were recently put back into use after a $19.5-million repair job by the National Works Agency (NWA).

“We did the one by Providence, we did the one by Leader’s Avenue and that one at Westgate,” the NWA’s community relations officer for the western region, Janel Ricketts told the Jamaica Observer.

“It cost about $19.5 million and started in early March,” she said of the price tag to repair all three.

The contractor was Synergy Engineering Limited.

There was a noticeable difference in traffic flow at Westgate, Wednesday, as the usual bottleneck created by drivers jostling for space was replaced by free flowing vehicles that used a newly painted turn lane.

“The one at Westgate was completely out so what we did was rewiring and changing of the hardware components like stanchions and all of that,” Ricketts disclosed.

“For that one, before you didn’t have an exclusive turning lane. We now have that in place and it is working quite well,” she said.

According to Ricketts, the NWA will keep an eye on the repaired lights to see if any adjustments need to be done.

She explained the work that was done at the other locations.

“The one by Leader’s Avenue needed a little bit of rewiring as well and they changed some of the hardware components just the same,” Ricketts told the Observer.

There were different requirements for the lights at Providence; they were knocked down during a motor vehicle crash a couple years ago. A set of temporary lights had been in place since then.

“What we did now was to come in to put up the permanent structure. It also includes a pedestrian facility, that would have been there before,” Ricketts said.

She also provided an update on the alternative route that was established to reroute some of the traffic within Montego Bay. From Ironshore to Westgate, four sets of traffic signals were installed two years ago to guide motorists on the route that bypasses the city centre.

“Persons have been using it so much so that it has become a true corridor for these vehicles. It is now a preferred route for many persons to avoid the traffic in the town,” she said.