Construction crews have begun work on a temporary bypass road along the Pond Case road.
Public Works Minister Hon. Rayburn Blackmoore during an interview with the Government Information Service (GIS) on Tuesday said this project became necessary following the collapse of a section of that road last Friday.
“As we indicated last week when this incident took place, we were going to embark on some form of intervention before we proceed to a more permanent structure on the Pond Case area”.
“What we are trying to do right now, is to provide a temporary access for both vehicular traffic and pedestrians alike” confirmed Minister Blackmoore.
He said work on the temporary bypass road has already started and the intention is to have the temporary crossing ready for use within ten days.
This quick response by the Ministry of Public W orks, according to Minister Blackmoore, is in keeping with Government’s plan to respond to the safety needs and of the people.
“As a Government we have taken into consideration the plight of the people, and as such we have to ensure that we put systems in place to address the needs of the people” Minister Blackmoore stated.
The temporary bypass project when complete will remove the inconvenience now faced by road users and will improve safety and journey time on the Pond case road.
Minister Blackmoore says as a long-term measure, the Public works Ministry will construct a box culvert in the area affected to prevent a reoccurrence of last Friday’s incident.
“In terms of the long-term intervention, what we are proposing to do is to put in place a box culvert structure”. He said the designs and quantities for the box culvert project are almost complete.
Meanwhile Minister Blackmoore told GIS news that the Ministry will also proceed to undertake a full study of the entire Pond Case road to determine the structural integrity of that road.
“As we traverse from the round about to the area where the incident took place, within that alignment, we have about fourteen areas where culverts had been installed. Within the next couple days and weeks, my Ministry will undertake a thorough investigation to determine the integrity of those structures”.
The Minister said the Ministry, as it has done in the past, will seek to take all the necessary measures to prevent similar incidents to what took place in Pond Case last week.
Minister Blackmoore expressed confidence in the ability of construction crews and contractors who have undertaken road projects across the country.
“If one were to drive to Lot Two of the airport road project and other recent road projects, one will get an appreciation for the kind of methodology the Ministry has been using to ensure that we construct proper drains and culverts” he guaranteed.