AS the rehabilitation of the Friendship to Hurlock road in St James moves closer there are already concerns about how some motorists are using the road.

Janel Ricketts, National Works Agency (NWA) community relations officer for the western region, says despite the road not being completed, some motorists have been seen speeding dangerously on the corridor.

"It's so disappointing [to see] the speed at which persons start to travel there already," Ricketts told the Jamaica Observer.

"It is ridiculous! They drive so fast. It is excessive speed around there now," added Ricketts.

Motorists had long complained about the slow pace of travel on the pothole-riddled roadway before the repair work started. They also had to deal with a dust bowl in dry periods or muddy conditions when it rained.

This led to several demonstrations as residents demanded an improvement in the condition of the road.

Now with the majority of the potholes already filled in and with other issues addressed in the rehabilitation work, some motorists have taken things to the extreme, travelling at excessive speed.

The road is now being rehabilitated at a cost of $164 million, and Ricketts told the Observer that work which began in January is expected to completed soon.

"We are actually ahead of schedule; things are progressing quite well. We have primed the roadway and we are finishing up some drainage features and we should start asphalting very soon — my guess is within another two weeks or so, weather permitting," said Ricketts.

She pointed out that the weather has been a big factor in the progress of the rehabilitation work as there has been little or no rainfall to disrupt the process.

"We didn't have rain for quite a while and the rain really started just about two weeks now, and that too has not been significant to delaying the project and therefore we have been able to fast-track some things," said Ricketts.

The 1.8-kilometre stretch of roadway now being repaired forms part of overarching work that will run from Fairfield to Point, a distance of 19.7 kilometres.

Already repair was done on two other sections of the roadway — 1.6 kilometres from Fairfield to Taylor Avenue at a cost of some $74 million, and Taylor Avenue to Friendship which cost $114 million.