HANOVER, Jamaica — Noting that a permanent fix has been identified for the long-standing road issues along the heavily trafficked Seaview Drive corridor in Lucea, Hanover, Minister with responsibility for Works, Robert Nesta Morgan, is urging residents, motorists, and tourism stakeholders to remain patient as rehabilitation work gets underway.

The critical arterial thoroughfare serves as a main route into Lucea and a major connector for commuters travelling between Montego Bay and Negril, carrying an estimated 15,000 vehicles daily.

“I just want to ask the tourism interests, residents most importantly, and the business sector — please, I’m asking you to be considerate and patient. We know the challenges, we understand what you’ve been through, we know about the two-hour traffic jams, but we have found a solution, and we’re trying to work with our contractor to implement the solution as quickly as possible,” urged Morgan.

The road is scheduled to be fixed under the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to Road Network (SPARK) Programme.

Morgan made the appeal while speaking to journalists on Wednesday afternoon following a site tour of the area. The Hanover leg of the tour followed an earlier inspection of flood-prone areas in neighbouring St James.

Accompanying the minister were technical officers from the National Works Agency (NWA); representatives from the main contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) Limited; Member of Parliament for Hanover Western, Heatha Miller-Bennett; and Member of Parliament for Hanover Eastern, Andrea Purkiss.

The deteriorating roadway, which has undergone multiple temporary repairs in recent years, has been severely compromised by poor drainage, rising sea levels, and coastal impacts from Hurricane Melissa in October 2025.

Ackowledging the persistent disruption, Morgan noted that the corridor — which forms part of the primary North Coast Highway — has “proven very challenging and has caused significant inconvenience to both residents and business operators alike.”

“The government made the decision a while back to repair it, and we were going to use a $30 million allocation to concrete it, but then we looked at the extent of the challenge and we decided to put it under the SPARK programme,” explained Morgan.

Providing a brief update on the technical progress made to date following the start of work a few weeks ago, the minister outlined the scope of the ongoing works.

“Currently, we have done over 40 meters of pipes, and we have a significant amount of pipe work to go as we have to replace the pipes that are old and are asbestos pipes. Four hundred meters of concrete; we’re going to be doing sidewalks as well as drains,” advised Morgan.

— Anthony Lewis