Road construction will begin tomorrow, Wednesday, February 5, 2025, at Cottage Vale, St. Philip, and when work is finished, residents can expect a durable roller compacted concrete road that will be smoother and wider with improved drainage.
Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Works, Santia Bradshaw disclosed this during a walk-through of the district yesterday where she was joined by the Member of Parliament for St. Philip West, Kay McConney, MTW’s Project Management Consultant with Stonebridge Construction Inc., Craig Archer, and officials from MTW.
Ms. Bradshaw said, “It’s been over 40 years that the residents up here have been promised by successive administrations that this particular stretch of road, which services several people in the community, would have been upgraded… So, the Cottage Vale Community can expect within the coming few months, I think four months, the full rehabilitation of this particular stretch of road. For the most part, it really isn’t a road, but a pathway through which the residents traverse to be able to get onto the main road. In addition, we’re going to be upgrading the drainage [and] will also be moving some of the utilities to accommodate the new width of the road.”
The Acting Prime Minister revealed that the Cottage Vale road would be done in roller compacted concrete (RCC) by the contractor Rock Hard Cement under the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) CAF Programme, which is funded by the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean. MTW began introducing RCC roads in 2024 in a few residential districts.
“We’ve done a number of roads to date using that methodology because obviously, we recognize that with the issues of climate change that present us on almost an annual basis in terms of heavy flooding, we have to find different methods of being able to build roads. So, the ministry is relatively satisfied with the outcome of the roller-compacted concrete, thus far. It costs a bit more than asphalt, but our thinking is that this will last longer and certainly given the intensity of the rainfall, we believe that this is a necessary way forward once we have the necessary resources to be able to construct roads in concrete going forward,” she said, adding the goal is to bring much needed improvements and connectivity across the entire road network.
MTW’s Project Management Consultant from Stonebridge Construction Inc., Craig Archer said the road would be fully rehabilitated and resurfaced using RCC. Noting the work will be done by Rock Hard Cement, Mr. Archer explained the 800-metre-long stretch would be excavated down to the rock, and the road widened to 4.8 metres to accommodate two vehicles passing side by side. Kerbs, wells, and new drainage infrastructure would also be built.
Member of Parliament for St. Philip West, Kay McConney was elated that road rehabilitation was finally being done at Cottage Vale. She stressed the new road would bring much relief to residents.
“It’s been close to 40 years that this road has not received any kind of attention… We have persons with disabilities…, we have persons who would tell us that the taxis when they came home late from work at night, would drop them at the top of the gap because the taxis refused to come down here at night because of the conditions of the roads. We have people who carry two sets of shoes because when it rains, this entire area, where we are standing going towards the west, floods…. “And so, whether it’s for the safety…, whether it is simply for access because a number of residents have not had the right kind of access, as well as for us being able to take care of the people here…, we are now able to do better by the people of Cottage Vale,” Ms. McConney said, while cautioning residents there would be a period of disruption and inconvenience but called on their patience and cooperation during the construction.
Resident of Cottage Vale, Fabian Vaughan, who is one of the main advocates for the St. Philip district, lamented that the road was in poor condition for years. He said persons had even moved away from the district as a result. However, he emphasized that he was happy work was about to start as he looked forward to people comfortably driving on the new road and former residents finally being able to see improvement within the community.