WITH major groundwork already completed, minister with responsibility for works, Robert Morgan, says the Montego Bay Perimeter Road project is on track to meet its September 2026 deadline with a design built to withstand inclement weather.

“I’m very confident…We are on time for September. We are working to have West Green Avenue completed by September and then next year Barnett Street, and we’ll have the Long Hill Bypass as well, which is an addition to the Montego Bay Perimeter Road project,” Morgan said during an interview with the Jamaica Observer on Monday.

The project, being managed by the National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC) and executed by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), is an estimated US$354 million. It includes the 15-kilometre Montego Bay Bypass, the 11-kilometre Long Hill Bypass, upgrades to Barnett Street and West Green Avenue, and construction of a 180-metre bridge over the Montego River.

Morgan, during a tour of the Bogue leg of the project on October 15, 2025, indicated that the project was ahead of schedule and would be completed by May 2026.

But on Monday he said the timeline was extended once before due to Hurricane Beryl of June 2024, and more recently Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall on October 28, 2025.

Morgan pointed out that the Category 5 storm caused an estimated US$79 million in damage to the project, but noted that the impact was not significant due to insurance protection.

“As a matter of fact, we started paving last year and would have been further ahead if it wasn’t for the rains and the hurricane, because we would have started paving last year and started putting up safety barriers and so on,” he said.

When asked about the upcoming hurricane season and whether the project would remain on its path to completion by September, Morgan told the Observer that the design represented a shift in how major roadways were engineered in Jamaica, particularly in response to climate risks.

“I think the design and engineering that we used for the perimeter road, and also what we’re using for the Long Hill Bypass, are so much different from what we traditionally use. They have been built in resilience. So a lot of the work that is going on now is pretty much final-leg infrastructure. We have already done the base course and the running course is what is being put on now, finishing some drainage and some hillside protection and so on,” declared Morgan as he expressed confidence that the roadway will be able to withstand typical weather conditions.

“So we do not expect general rains to have any significant impact on the road. I mean, if we have a Category 5 again, that might be a different conversation, but we’re hoping and praying that we don’t have one of those events before it’s completed,” said the minister.

On financing, Morgan maintained that the Government remains in a stable position to see the project through.

“We have received the allocation for the completion of it in the current budget. There may be some changes that may be made one way or the other as the year goes by, but we are pretty confident in the funding arrangements through the Ministry of Finance,” he said.

According to Morgan, the Montego Bay Bypass and West Green Avenue developments are now scheduled to be completed by September 2026, with the Barnett Street and Long Hill Bypass stretch of the project expected to wrap up by April and May 2027, respectively.

Concrete casting being put in place on the new Barnett Street Bridge

MORGAN…we started paving last year and would have been further ahead if it wasn’t for the rains and the hurricane