MONTEGO BAY, St James — Though Hurricane Melissa dumped mountains of mud and debris on homes and commercial establishments in West Green and Catherine Hall, including sections of the Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project that ruins through the area, the National Road Operating and Constructing Company Limited (NROCC) says the project is still on track.

“As it stands now, the completion date for May 2026 stands,” NROCC Managing Director Stephen Edwards told the Jamaica Observer.

“NROCC is working with the contractor to adjust the construction schedule as best as possible to meet the project deadline for completion,” he said, in explaining what it will take to stay on schedule.

“At this point we’ve had no indication that it will be pushed back,” Edwards said confidently.

The only area that will require some amount of work, he said, is the road that connects West Green to Howard Cooke Boulevard. Everything else is considered minor.

“NROCC is currently upgrading… West Green Avenue… and even before the hurricane the project scope included the upgrades to the drain system, which will also help to improve drainage in Catherine Hall,” Edwards disclosed.

West Green, according to the National Library, was the first housing development within the Catherine Hall Urban Expansion. Both communities suffered badly at the hands of the Category 5 storm. There is now a spring in one section of the bypass road, and this has raised questions about what other changes the hurricane may have made.

In October, ahead of Melissa’s arrival, Minister with Responsibility for Roads Robert Morgan had indicated that the project was actually a tad ahead of its scheduled May 2026 completion date. The US$374-million Jamaican-government-funded work is being implemented through a design build arrangement with China Harbour Engineering Company.

The project is broken down into several phases, which include the 15.1-kilometre Montego Bay Bypass which now boasts the country’s longest bridge, the Barnett Street/West Green Avenue Road Rehabilitation and Expansion works, as well as a comprehensive drainage study of the Montego Bay bypass area. The 10.5-kilometre Long Hill Bypass was later added to it, pushing the price tag up from the original US$274 million. The West Green Avenue Upgrade will replace roundabouts with traffic signals and widen the route that links two major thoroughfares. The fourth sub-project, the Barnett Street Upgrade, will feature significant widening of the high-traffic corridor running from the West Green/Fairfield intersection to Cottage Road; rehabilitation of the road; as well as a new bridge over the Montego River. There will also be installation of water, sewage, and drainage infrastructure.

Running from Ironshore to Bogue, then onwards to Anchovy, the Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project will divert traffic from now-congested streets that sap commuters’ energy and cut into productivity. The project has been long-awaited and its completion is much anticipated. It will be the first local road to feature open-road tolling, also known as free-flow tolling, so there will be no need for toll booths.

Some motorists are now engaged in the dangerous practice of using the road though work is still ongoing.

“We understand there is much excitement about the Montego Bay Perimeter Road. However, it is still an active construction site and not open to the public,” Edwards warned.

“Private vehicles ought not to be on the construction site. There are barriers in place but somehow persons find their way on the site,” he noted.

He appealed to individuals to remain off the bypass road until it is declared open and ready for use by regular motorists.