Highway jitters for Bull Bay

Having waited for years to see improvements to their road, some residents of 12 Miles in St Thomas are now jittery about the possibility of being left in no man's land when works on the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project are completed.

The communities of 11 Miles and 12 Miles are set to be bypassed by the major roadworks, which will see the building of a four-lane highway from Harbour View in St Andrew to Albion in St Thomas.

The sounds of heavy equipment excavating the new road have been music to the ears of persons who have suffered for years with the bad roads leading from St Thomas into Portland. However, as is the case with residents of Grants Pen, St Thomas, the inhabitants of 12 Miles are worried about their future.

Judith, a bar owner, told THE STAR that while she welcomes the new road, she fears that her enterprise will suffer an economic downfall that will be beyond repair.

"I have my bar for the past 20 years, because it was my mommy's own, then my sister got it, then me. It nuh look like my daughter a guh get it, because if the highway ever cut off here so, a problems fi me," Judith told THE STAR.

"Me fear that me get cut off, like Grants Pen, because it a guh terrible 'round here. We naah guh have nuh income nuh more. Nobody nah go come 'round here with the new highway," Judith shared.

NEW HIGHWAY

The new highway will not follow the existing alignment through 11 Miles and 12 Miles, but will instead go through the hills behind both communities. Persons in those areas will continue to use the existing roadway, which will merge at both ends with the new highway.

Grants Pen, a small community, is bordered on the east by the more developed Albion, where the four-lane highway will end. The highway is being built on an elevated section that bypasses a section of the existing main road at the entrance to the community. The residents feel that they are being exposed to the risks of crocodile attacks and crime if they are not given better access to the highway.

While the concerns of 12 Miles residents are not as strong as in Grants Pen, the residents there say they have no choice but to brace for an impact. Paulette Murray said that in addition to the drying up of sales, the community may be faced with transportation issues when the new road is opened.

"Me hear dem say dem a guh set up a bus park near the highway, so that mean Mezgar Gardens people dem can easily get the bus. But when the highway set up, we (residents of 12 Miles) affi go way 'round deh so fi get the bus -- that a if we a go back to Morant Bay or if we a go back a town. Me affi go church, and buy up things fi my business, so how it a guh work out? We need the road fi stay 'round here," Murray pleaded.

The Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project, which began in January 2017, is slated to end in March 2025.