WAKEFIELD, Trelawny – There was a sigh of relief from motorists plying the pothole-riddled roadway stretching from Wakefield to Deeside when the long-awaited road rehabilitation project, valued over $145 million, finally got underway on Tuesday.

For more than four decades there had been no meaningful road works on that section of the roadway, which has fallen into a state of disrepair.

Among those to welcome the start of the multimillion-dollar project was Stanley Gordon, a Wakefield resident, who walked from his home Tuesday morning to witness the start of the project.

“I just left my house directly to come and see for myself if the repairs have really started. I am exceedingly overjoyed to see that the work has really started. The road is really so bad,” an apparently heartened Gordon told the Jamaica Observer West.

Equally excited was president of the Coastal Transportation Association Hopeton Gordon, who expressed appreciation for the commencement of the long-awaited project on behalf of his membership who ply that route, and who have been complaining bitterly about the deplorable state of the heavily traversed roadway.

“I am very glad to know that the road repair work has finally commenced. Our members who operate along that corridor have been complaining for some time now over the expense that they are accruing to repair their vehicles which regularly sustain damage because of the bad road,” said the president.

But Member of Parliament for Trelawny Northern Tova Hamilton appeared to be even more elated and relieved over the start of the project than her constituents, arguing that the outcome is a result of her sustained lobby since she took over the reigns of the constituency in September 2020.

” Today [Tuesday] marks an important milestone in my political achievements to date. Many doubted that this project would ever see the light of the day but I had enough hope to move mountains,” said Hamilton.

“I don’t think that the residents appreciate the work more than I do… because I know the work that had to be put in to get here. A lot of people don’t know what is happening behind the scenes, they just think things miraculously happen overnight, but the advocacy everyday, making phone calls…”

Fed up with the long wait and promises made for the commencement of the project, motorists traversing the corridor had expressed doubt that the repairs would have been a reality.

Hamilton argued that the project would contribute to the rebuilding of trust among the constituents.

“For me today [Tuesday], I feel vindicated because a lot of people were distrustful, they lacked hope, they didn’t know it was going to happen and for it to start, I know that I will be rebuilding trust and I will be rebuilding hope. And I know that over the years because of how politicians have dealt with people, there is a sense of disillusionment. So we have to now try to work to mitigate, to prevent that, or to reduce that kind of thinking,” said the first-time MP.

Hamilton had initially lobbied for the well-needed rehabilitation of the 14-mile corridor stretching from Falmouth to Spring Vale in the constituency. But after discovering that the project would cost roughly $800 million, which, she said, was not available, she decided to tackle the upgrading of the corridor on a phased basis.

The Wakefield to Deeside roadway, which has been a source of discontent for many years, has resulted in several protest actions by residents and motorists in recent years.

Last September, during a tour of roads with Hamilton in her constituency, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation Everald Warmington announced the allocation of $324 million to rehabilitate roads in the Trelawny Northern constituency, which he described as among the worst across the island.

The Government, he pointed out, could not afford the amount it would cost to rehabilitate the 14-mile corridor stretching from Falmouth to Spring Vale, but announced the allocation for the repairs of the Wakefield to Deeside roadway.

The project to rehabilitate the four-kilometre stretch is being implemented by the National Works Agency (NWA), under its Maintenance of Secondary Roads Programme.

Community relations officer for the NWA’s Western Region, Janel Ricketts, in a release yesterday, said that the project involves drainage and base improvements, resurfacing of the roadway, sidewalk construction and installation of a pedestrian crossing and road markings.

The project will target the section of road between the Wakefield Police Station and the Hastings Baptist Church, Ricketts said.

She added that over the course of the next four months, motorists may experience delays as they traverse the corridor. Motorists are being advised to obey the posted warning signs and instructions of flagmen.

Meanwhile, Hamilton disclosed that even as the long term goal is to tackle the entire Falmouth to Spring Vale stretch, she is now looking forward to lobbying for the repairs of the thoroughfare between Wakefield and Bounty Hall.

” I would also love for the entire circuit— Wakefield, Deeside, Dromilly, Bunker’s Hill, Friendship — to all come around into a circle and be fully rehabilitated so that residents can be at ease when they traverse the road,” she told the Observer West.

Donovan Bryan, chief executive officer of BF Construction, contractor for the project, committed to complete the rehabilitation work within the four-month period barring any “act of God”.