Dear Editor,

Friday, April 17, 2026 will be a day I will never forget, having spent approximately four hours driving from Upper Elletson Road to New Kingston.

The entire city was a traffic gridlock on a rainy afternoon, leading to thousands of lost man-hours, wasted petrol in an energy crisis, and innumerable frustrated motorists and pedestrians. The only excuse trumpeted by the authorities so far is that the city has outgrown its infrastructure, and no one can tell us what will be done to alleviate the situation before this becomes the norm. In light of same, I humbly offer the following solutions:

1) Revisit the Jamaica Urban Transit Company premium bus service to make more buses available to routes that serve communities in Greater Portmore, Old Harbour, Longville Park, etc.

2) Rapidly increase the pace at which the flexi-hours regime is being implemented in government agencies, departments, and ministries.

3) Engage the private sector to also implement flexible work hours, not only for production staff, but administrative services as well.

4) Implement traffic management changes to have organisations such as Caribbean Cement Company, the gas companies, and construction companies haul aggregates and other materials mainly at nights, lessening congestion and fuel consumption.

5) Fix the pothole-riddled streets across the Corporate Area. Roads such as South Camp road below the Jamaica Defence Force main gate can be widened by removing the concrete divider and adjusting the sidewalks back down to the Victoria Avenue intersection. The same can be done on Red Hills Road and Molynes Road.

6) Reduce the frequent convergence of traffic at the foot of Forest Hills where Molynes Road, Knightsdale Drive (Red Hills Road), Meadowbrook Main, and Perkins Boulevard meet. If a traffic signal is installed at the intersection of Fairdene Avenue and Queensborough Drive and extended via a bridge spanning the Constant Spring gully terminating on Perkins Boulevard at the intersection with Catherine Drive heading up to Queen Hill, it would be a plus.

7) Another signalised intersection could be created to link Perkins Boulevard with Ken Hill Drive along that “green space” leading into the Pembroke Hall area.

8) Clean culverts and main drains along Spanish Town Road/Henley Road and along Callaloo Bed and Riverton Meadows to dump flood water into the Duhaney River.

9) Create a “Greater Kingston Project” to reclaim swamp lands on the backside of Riverton City, bordering on Mandela Highway and Dyke Road by cleaning the Sandy Gully and moving the rubble and silt to that area. Put in the necessary infrastructure to include a mini-stadium, business district, infant and junior high schools, government offices, such as the fragmented Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Ministry of Justice now in rented premises.

10) Implement a four-lane road from the roundabout at Bayside (Back Road) across the hills, via Rodney’s Arm, terminating at the old Hellshire beach main road, thereby releasing the traffic pressure in places like Naggo Head, Braeton, and Greater Portmore.

11) Last but not least, establish a designated exit lane to Portmore as you pass the Fesco petrol station, terminating at Dyke Road and Ackee Village roundabout into a widened George Lee Boulevard. Also, create linkages to and from the PJ Patterson Highway and the North South Highway to the existing road infrastructure.

Dudley McFarlane

dudsjnr2@hotmail.com