6-WEEK CLOSURE FOR REPAIRS
(File photo of section of the attraction and major roadway before the major deterioration)
Fern Gully main road in St. Ann will be closed to vehicular traffic as of Monday, October 9, 2023.
The closure, which is to facilitate repairs is scheduled to last for six (6) weeks.
Most of the nearly three kilometers of roadway has deteriorated badly causing the drive along sections of it to be treacherous. It has been noted that the worst sections are in the middle of the roadway where trenches have been dug into the surface by water.
(Concrete section of the roadway has not deteriorated)
The sections where concrete was used to resurface the road more than nine years ago have not been eroded. At the time it was said that this would be a pilot for roadways in Jamaica. Although the concrete has held up, that’s not what will be used on the remainder of the roadway.
The repairs are to be done at a cost of over $31 million and are being carried out by the NWA in partnership with the Tourism Enhancement Fund.
Manager of Communication and Customer Services at the NWA, Stephen Shaw says the badly rutted surface of the targeted section of road will be removed and be replaced with asphaltic concrete. The road is also to be marked and Raised Pavement Markers or so called Cats Eyes installed. The project is being executed at a cost of $31.6 million.
According to the NWA, during the closure, the alternative routes will be Breadnut Hill for vehicles entering and exiting Ocho Rios. The Chalky Hill main road should be used by large trucks and can also be used by vehicles travelling westerly from Moneague to St. Ann’s Bay
