Start of highway and bypass road projects in Western Jamaica to reduce long travel time

Visitors arriving and departing Montego Bay will experience less traffic congestion as the long-awaited, multibillion-dollar road infrastructure projects commence.

Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett made the announcement after attending a high-level breakfast meeting with distinguished Spanish hoteliers under the Inverotel umbrella (an association representing the largest Spanish hoteliers and operators globally) in Madrid, Spain.

Road works include the construction of a four-lane highway from Rose Hall in Montego Bay, St James to Mammee Bay, St Ann.

It is expected to ease the usual traffic build-up on the Rosehall main road, one of the main roadways leading to the Sangster International Airport.

The government minister expressed his confidence that upon completion of the highway project, the usual travel time to the parish of St Ann will reduce as traffic will be eliminated in other bypass congestion-prone spots along this route.

These include in the towns of Priory, Runaway Bay and Discovery Bay in St Ann.

Works have also commenced on the widely-discussed Montego Bay Perimeter Road project, a bypass project which will divert highway traffic from the central business district.

This is expected to benefit visitors who would usually have to travel through the busy town square en route to villas and hotels in other parishes on the Western side of the island.

Minister Bartlett also noted that bypass road projects are slated to begin in the parish of Hanover.

These, he says, are of high priority as Spanish hoteliers have committed to build 4,000 new hotel rooms as well as homes for hotel workers in the parish.

News of the new road projects is welcomed by tour operators and hoteliers in the Western end of the island as the Latin America and Caribbean region continues to record high international tourist arrival numbers comparative to pre-pandemic arrival numbers in 2019.

In 2022, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reported that Europe and the Americas have recorded the best international tourism numbers.

The organization predicts that international tourist arrivals in this region will reach up to 76% of pre-pandemic levels.