White Hill to get new road under multi-million dollar project

Government is gearing up to spend over $200 million to bring relief to residents of White Hill, St Andrew and surrounding districts.

Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources, Ian Gooding-Edghill today revealed that the administration was wrapping up negotiations on a $230 million project that would see roads and bridges in parts of St Andrew, St Joseph, St John, St Peter and St Thomas being repaired.

Gooding-Edghill said that work on the project was expected to begin in early 2021 and the roads in White Hill would be among the first to be addressed.

The news comes just days after White Hill residents publicly complained that they were fed up after years of unfulfilled promises to repair the main road in the community which had collapsed into a nearby gully.

But speaking on the radio call-in programme Down to Brass Tacks today, Gooding-Edghill said Government was still committed to assisting those residents.

“We are currently concluding negotiations on a loan…and we anticipate that we will commence early in the New Year on a number of roads and bridges.

“This is a significant sum that we are spending but we do believe that we have to do so. The Government made a commitment before I joined the ministry to initiate this programme and I can assure the residents who live in those areas that we will have multiple contractors and we are going to fix the roads and the bridges and it is likely to commence very early in the New Year,” Gooding-Edghill explained.

“In respect of the roads that we are going to fix, White Hill Road is one of significance and cause for concern, especially for the residents who live there. That road will be the first of approximately nine roads that we intend to do in the St Andrew area.”

The minister said that under the Roads and Bridges programme the Thompson’s Bridge, the bridge at St Simon’s as well as the one at St Saviour’s were among those to be repaired.

He outlined that the programme will spread across Turner’s Hall, St Simon’s, White Hill/Hillaby, White Hill/Baxters, the Ermie Bourne Highway, Shorey Village and also Hillaby in St Andrew.

“It’s going to be a parallel project almost, so we’re going to fix the roads in St Andrew. We also have a number of roads in St Joseph to fix for example Ridge Road, Suriname Road, Highway Z, Sugar Hill, Vaughn’s Road #2. Then in the St John area we have identified Four Roads, Martin’s Bay, Glenburnie, Consett Bay and three in the St Thomas area: Hangman Hill, Carrington and Bloomsbury,” Gooding-Edghill said.

(randybennett@barbadostoday.bb)