So often when we talk about Jamaica we tend to focus on the major cities and towns e.g. Kingston and just maybe Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. Today we shift a little to focus on Montego Bay.
Motorists in Montego Bay and most parish capitals and major towns e.g. Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth, St. Ann’s Bay, Brown’s Town and Ocho Rios, St. Ann among others, have had to endure horrendous traffic conditions. Some of the problem can be blamed on the behaviour of the motorists while most of it really has to do it inadequate infrastructure, the result of poor planning.
Traffic is enemy of the motorist as it results in greater gas consumption, that is reduce mileage, general wear and tear on the vehicles engine. It is in this vein that I am happy to see that something is being done again to try and fix the traffic situation in Montego Bay. The opening of the Howard Cooke Highway went a long way many years back ( I can remember) to solving the problem by allowing traffic to bypass the city center. Now the city center for years has continued to suffer.
Recently Radio Jamaica carried report about help for Montego Bay’s Traffic Problem. The plan, a traffic management system, calls for new traffic lights and surveillance systems. It is interesting that the article made note of the consultations held among the motoring public, pedestrians and the authorities. It is hoped that the team work will make a difference.
No ‘organised’ Public Transport.
On the other hand St. James does not have an ‘organised’ public transport system. Transportation is basically limited to route taxis and the competing illegal taxis referred to as ‘robots’. I was surprised that there was no mention of this in the plan. As long as there is no proper public transport system the demand for vehicles will grow and problem will not go away. Some plan to stamp out the indiscipline needs to be in place.
Personally, the city and parish needs an overall as some of the streets are just too small and there is revisit the traffic flow. There is also a need for improved road signs such as one-way signs, street names and the vandalism of these signs needs to stop. Finally there needs to proper planning for development of the city and proper transport centers will be critical.
Half-way-tree transport center example
The order that the Half-way-tree transport center has brought to Half-way-tree is amazing and projects of this kind relevant to needs of other town centers need to be explored. It is interesting that it is the “robot” taxis that threaten to disturb the order of Half-way-tree.
The reality though is nothing burns gasoline like sitting idle or in being slow moving traffic and any solution will be of benefit to struggling motorist. What do you think is solution to Montego Bay’s traffic problem?
Source:
