ST JAMES, Jamaica — The National Works Agency (NWA) has announced that roadworks under the long-anticipated Shared Prosperity Through Accelerated Improvement to Our Road Network (SPARK) programme will ramp up in western Jamaica by mid-May.

Thirteen roads across St James, Westmoreland, Hanover, and Trelawny are scheduled for rehabilitation this month. Works have already commenced on Kodac Street and Legs Lane in Flanker, and Riverside Drive Phase 2 in Retirement, St James, with a combined cost of $60 million.

In Trelawny, upgrades from Church Street to Gravel Hill are underway at a cost of $27.5 million.

According to Janelle Ricketts, NWA’s  community relations officer for the Western Region, May will be a particularly active month for the SPARK programme.

Ricketts revealed that these include in Westmoreland, the Blackness Road project which will cost $30 million; Welcome to Mackfield at a cost of $35 million; and Gordon Road to Congress, a project that will be done at a price of $75 million.

Additional projects in St James include the Greenwood roadway at $50 million, Brisett Road in Cambridge for $25 million, and Unity Crescent at $20 million.

In Hanover, work will begin on Top Hill Road and Malcolm Heights, costing $50 million and $35 million respectively. Trelawny’s Penn Road in Stettin will also be rehabilitated at a cost of $35 million.

“This announcement by the NWA has been welcomed by residents who have been waiting to see the start of works on the targeted roads. The programme is a comprehensive one which seeks to completely rehabilitate the targeted roads to include drainage improvement and the reshaping and asphalting of roadways,” Ricketts shared.

She is also urging residents whose communities are not yet scheduled for work to remain patient.

“A number of roadways will be fixed under the programme. However, all projects cannot be done at once and so the projects will be targeted through a series of work orders. Therefore even though residents would be aware of roads to be targeted, especially as highlighted on platforms, such as the SPARK website, the roads will be completed in batches, over time,” she said.