The Chesterfield Drive extension road, in St. Andrew is now fully in service. The brand-new roadway (which takes motorists from the Chesterfield Drive/Pennwood Road intersection off Spanish Town Road to Marcus Garvey Drive), was officially opened to traffic at approximately 7 p.m. on Sunday (December 2).
Manager of Communication and Customer Services at the NWA, Stephen Shaw explains that motorists were allowed on to the roadway a few hours later than planned as the technical crews ensured that all the works required to make the roadway safe for use were adequately completed.
The corridor, which accommodates two-way traffic, has been signalized at two new locations – Pacific Boulevard and Marcus Garvey Drive - to effectively manage the increase in traffic. The road is marked to guide motorists’ transition from the major thoroughfares of Spanish Town Road and Marcus Garvey Drive and is outfitted with the requisite road and safety signs.
Mr. Shaw is appealing to motorists to obey the roadway’s posted speed limit of 50 kmh and to use the Bailey bridges, located close to the Marcus Garvey access, as intended. He explains that while two lanes of traffic are able to turn on to Marcus Garvey Drive from Chesterfield Drive, the bridge along the eastbound lane is designed to accommodate only one-lane of traffic at a time while the bridge along the westbound lane carries two-lanes of traffic.
The road design caters to the predominant flow of traffic during evening and morning peak hours.
The new Chesterfield extension road which runs a full 2.2 kilometres between Spanish Town Road and Marcus Garvey Drive serves as an alternative route for motorists travelling east from Six Miles towards Downtown Kingston or to Half-Way-Tree via Marcus Garvey Drive, East Avenue and Maxfield Avenue.
Work on the roadway started in September under a US$1M contract with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC).
