Major improvements on the way for St Thomas roads

Residents of St Thomas have been told to expect major improvements to roads in that parish as work got off to a smooth start on the reconstruction of Highway D, which will stretch from Porey Spring to Cane Garden, via Shop Hill.

This has come from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Works, Santia Bradshaw who toured the first section of the roadworks from Content to Dukes on Saturday. She said the work planned for the 3.7 km road will be done in sections to minimise disruptions as much as possible.

Milling, which is the process of removing the road’s asphalt surface, has already begun from Content to Dukes. She explained work started here because this section requires less complex intervention and would cause the least disruption of the three sections.

“Over the next few months, residents can expect that there will be some disruption in terms of being able to traverse certain areas. There will be some traffic diversions and of course, there will be some dust, as well as the usual inconveniences but we tried to minimise that as much as possible by breaking the road into various sections. So, when this first phase, which has started already, will [be] completed, … we will start on phase two, and then phase three, which will take us down to the junction by Lester Vaughan School.”

Engineering Consultant for the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW), Craig Archer disclosed that the detailed design process was started in August 2024. In an effort to improve the road’s subbase or foundation, he said excavation will go down to rock, then a six-inch concrete stabilizer will be used in addition to the usual compacted marl fill, followed by a two-inch asphalt surface layer. He outlined that for the current section, “the road width will be six metres wide with shoulders of 1½ metres on both sides of the road, so nine metres will be the total width of the excavation that will take place.”

Director/General Manager of C.O. Williams Construction Ltd., Mark Atwell explained the starting point of the roadwork was strategically chosen to allow for easy detours. He said this section did not require water mains replacement. Since MTW and C.O. Williams Construction were co-ordinating with the utility companies, he said the Barbados Water Authority is working ahead of them to upgrade the mains in the remaining sections.

Additionally, since a design and build approach is being used to rehabilitate Highway D, he said working on the easiest section first allowed the designers to concentrate on the more difficult sections.

“It gives the designers a chance to work ahead of us so that we can start and not wait until the whole thing is complete. We can take advantage of the dry season to get this work done as fast as possible…. There are some more challenging areas of design as we work south towards Shop Hill, more culverts, more walls, in Shop Hill and Porey Spring, because we will be moving into those communities. We want to make sure we have those designs right before we start. We will endeavour to do the best we can and complete as fast as possible with as least disruption as possible,” Atwell stated.

Road rehabilitation will also commence shortly on the Cane Garden to Bridgefield route. Hangman Hill and Reece Road have been earmarked as diversion routes to accommodate the roadworks. Both roads have undergone improvements to adequately handle the anticipated traffic volumes. Hangman Hill benefited from a temporary upgraded surface in November 2024, and the road reconstruction at Reece Road is 90 per cent completed.

Road Rehabilitation on Highway D from Porey Spring to Shop Hill in St Thomas is being done under the MTW CAF Programme, which is funded by the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean. (PR)