Drivers ‘bawl murder’ at condition of commercial stretch of Factory Road and cry shame on Jonas, Weston and Bird-Browne
The Ministry of Public Works has fallen asleep on the job where the Factory Road is concerned, angry motorists tell REAL News.
They say the stretch between the turn-off to Potters and Chase Supermarket is a disgrace at any time, but particularly so in this busy season when there is so much traffic on the road.
One driver is furious after her vehicle dropped into one of the potholes that have eaten away the southern side of the motorway.
“I was going west, into town, [Thursday] night; and, of course, half of the cars coming east had their bright lights on. So I didn’t see that particular hole until the front end just fell into it,” she recounts.
Likening the roadway to “Swiss cheese,” she says she had been maneuvering the road by driving as close as possible to the middle. However, given the long line of traffic behind her and coming toward her, that was not always possible.
“I have relatives here for Christmas, and I have encouraged them not to drive anywhere at night, because I am not going out to rescue them,” the woman says.
Meanwhile, she and other frustrated drivers tell our Newsroom it is “ridiculous” that a stretch on which so many commercial activities take place could have been allowed to deteriorate so badly.
A Paynters resident details his daily grief, shared by pedestrians and vehicle operators alike:
“You have a law office with an overflowing, stinking gutter in front of it. You have the wheel-alignment place with the holey driveway running onto the road. You have a whole set of shops and offices in the O’Beez Complex. You have Mr. Pringle’s business place; the printery; the drinks depot; the big supermarket – and people living on the two sides of the road!
“Lennox Weston nah see? Dean Jonas nah smell? And then Maria Browne – with no shame – coming to put up posters on lamp posts on the other side?” he asks in outrage.
“It’s too long now, man!” he declares. “When are they going to fix this situation: On January 17, the day before the election?”
On Tuesday, the United Progressive Party’s Political Leader, Harold Lovell, noted that the Gaston Browne Administration had received a grant from the United Kingdom Government, of US$20 million, for road works. And yet, he said, the roads across the island are still in a deplorable condition.
He also commented that portions of the newly resurfaced Friars Hill Road and Sir George Walter Highway have fallen into potholes already.
“The Valley Road is incomplete. The Sir Sidney Walling Highway, going east, has been dug up again,” he said.
Pointing to the Anchorage Road and the detour through Yorks; the incomplete bridge-work in Upper Fort Road; and virtually all the community roads – from Crosbies to Follies – Lovell said the Gaston Browne Administration has been a failure.
