MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Even as there are calls for motorists to exercise caution and obey the rules of the road, leaders here are renewing calls for action to be taken to make road infrastructure safer.

The Spur Tree Hill main road, Melrose Hill Bypass, Shooters/Pen Hill main road and the Winston Jones Highway have been the scene of numerous crashes over the years. Since the start of the year, there have been three major crashes in proximity on the Winston Jones Highway, close to Mandeville.

The most recent crash, involving two taxis a week ago, claimed the lives of three men and left 11 people injured. In January, there were two accidents involving trucks, hours apart on the Winston Jones Highway.

Vice-chairman of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) Dr Lucien Jones, whose father the highway is named after, told the Jamaica Observer that the council has been pushing for an adoption of a safe-systems approach to cauterise crashes.

“Generally, it is as a matter of policy which the prime minister, as chairman of the National Road Safety Council, has endorsed. The World Health Organization recommends that each country should undertake the promotion of road safety within the context of the safe-systems approach. One of the essential features of the safe system is safe roads,” Dr Jones told the Observer.

Custos of Manchester Garfield Green, Councillor Jones Oliphant (People’s National Party, Mandeville Division, and a senior police source are lobbying for the Winston Jones Highway to be remarked, reflectors placed on the roadway, and adequate lighting installed at major intersections.

“The road itself needs resurfacing, but I think the major part is that it has poor lighting. The cat’s eye (reflectors) that motorists can use to guide them along the roadway, those are non-existent. The road needs to be remarked; it is a highway, it is a wide enough road, but it needs some improvement,” said the police source who requested anonymity.

“They [leaders] have asked for this for years, in terms of the lighting, which is crucial. The road marking is crucial, too, but motorists still need to drive with more care. Not because you see that it is a highway, it doesn’t mean you are to go 90 km/h to 110 km/h; drive with some care; know that somebody else is using the road,” added the source.

Statistics from the police show that up to February 23, Manchester recorded nine road fatalities.

Communications manager at the National Works Agency (NWA) Stephen Shaw, meanwhile, told the Observer that while there are roads that need repair, recklessness is a major factor in crashes.

“In terms of the marking, that is something that we would have to look at within the context of budgetary provisions… There is a relationship between the quality of roads and accidents, from time to time, but it is not the case in all situations; you have to do your investigations and that is why the police will do theirs,” he said.

“Because a lot of the times while you may have road infrastructure and its quality contributing, the main factors is usually [speeding] or motorists racing with each other and somebody does something which ought not to have been done in the circumstances and you have accidents resulting in major casualties; it is very easy to point to a road and not necessarily the actions of those who are involved,” added Shaw.

Dr Jones reiterated that there are roads across the country that are in need of urgent resurfacing/rehabilitation.

“The matter of the surface of the road is important, because that is what allows the [vehicle] tyres to grip when the brake is applied, so if the friction is not at its best then cars will slide even when the [road surface] is dry,” he said.

“There are some roads on the North Coast Highway which the experts have said are slippery even when dry and worse when wet. I don’t know whether or not the surface of the Winston Jones Highway could be described as such,” said Dr Jones.

He added: “The matter of the cat’s eyes and road markings is something which [the police] has spoken about several times, but they did a survey with Mona GeoInformatics to use GPS to locate exactly where it is needed, so they have a list of all the roads which need to be upgraded as far as road furniture is concerned and road markings, that list has been submitted to the NWA for action.”

Dr Jones also called for greater attention to be given to the Winston Jones Highway.

“To the extent that the Winston Jones Highway, which has come into public scrutiny over the last six months or so, because of a number of crashes definitely, as vice-chairman I would say it is something that we need to place additional focus on,” he said.

Custos Green, who has an office and business at the intersection of the Winston Jones Highway and Kendal Boulevard, said it is a highly trafficked area.

“People move very fast on it. The markings on the road that would help motorists to stay in their lanes are noticeably absent. At night, the roadway is very dark, because of inadequate lighting,” he said.

“What I have also noticed is the absence of police on that stretch of road, which is considered as a crash hot spot. I remember years [ago] we used to see police along the highway. Now, we don’t see them. People tend to fall in line when they know the police are up the road or down the roads,” added the custos.

He also renewed calls for more defensive driving courses to be offered to motorists, especially public passenger vehicle operators.

The police source told the Observer that cops are working with limited resources to maintain their presence at crash hot spots.

“Normally, we have black spots where two or more fatal accidents occur within a year. We usually have the Winston Jones Highway, the Melrose Bypass and the Spur Tree Hill main road. Now we have accidents all around the parish. We are affected by motorcyclists, too, who are very reckless for the most part,” said the source.

“We know accidents are going to happen. We can’t be everywhere at the same time, but we try to occupy the space as much as we can. We are not as mobile as we would want to be. We don’t have enough motorcycles and cars to patrol the space as often as we would want,” added the source.

Councillor Oliphant has reiterated his appeal for consideration to be given toward implementing escape lanes for out-of-control trucks on the crash-prone Spur Tree Hill main road and Winston Jones Highway.

“I am really concerned because over the last four to six weeks we have had no less than three major accidents on the roadway [Winston Jones Highway]. When I look on the roadway, there are no turning lanes to go up to Sugar Research road. There is not enough signage and marking,” he said.

“If you notice there are no run-offs (escape lanes) and in case a motorist has a problem he cannot run off successfully off the road. Most times, even at Spur Tree there is none… If motorists have a problem, they just have to stay on the highway until we hope they can overcome difficulties that they might be in,” added Oliphant.

Successive administrations have pledged to build a bypass road for Spur Tree Hill. The Observer was told by a reliable source that plans are in the pipeline to extend Highway 2000 beyond Williamsfield, incorporating sections of the Winston Jones Highway and Mandeville bypass as well as bypassing Spur Tree Hill and connecting to south St Elizabeth and the north section to link to Montego Bay.

It is hoped that the extension of the highway connecting Mandeville to Montego Bay will commence following the completion of the US$188-million May Pen to Williamsfield leg of Highway 2000. The latter is expected to be completed by August.