ROSE HALL, St James — Ten bus sheds are being built along the Rose Hall main road in St James, popularly called the elegant corridor. Work is being done through the St James Municipal Corporation, with funding provided by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF). The structures cost $1 million each.

Work began in August and they are all expected to be completed by early October.

”I am really pleased because it’s something I really wanted to put in for a while, especially the ones at Rhyne Park and Bob Man because those commuters have been suffering, especially when it rains; they have nowhere to shelter,” said councillor for the Rose Hall Division, Anthony Murray.

“So now despite the weather, whether it’s raining or sunny, they will have somewhere they can actually protect themselves from the elements,” he added.

The sheds, now at varying stages of construction, are located at various points along the main road between Flanker in the west and Barrett Hall in the east.

Murray said he had noticed the challenges that came from a lack of adequate bus stops along the busy corridor. He drew inspiration from how other parishes had addressed the issue.

“It was something that I have been lobbying for because I saw similar bus stops in Trelawny and St Ann. So I enquired about it and I realised that it was funded through the TEF and they approved it and so we are getting 10 for the Rose Hall corridor,” he said.

Some of the bus sheds will be completely new to the areas in which they are being installed. Others will be larger replacements for ones that were installed before.

Murray hopes there will be others erected going forward.

“It’s just a fraction of what the highway was built to accommodate which is about 20 to 22 bus stops within the Rose Hall area alone, but we putting in the most critical area right now,” he said.