Already in negotiations for toll rights to May Pen to Williamsfield leg now under construction

Transjamaican Highway Limited (TJH), the operators of Highway 2000 East-West wing, has formally expressed its interest in bidding for the Montego Bay bypass toll road in St. James, for which construction has been delayed for a year.

Construction of the 15-kilometre toll road stretching from the Rose Hall main road in the vicinity of the Blue Diamond Shopping Centre on to the Bogue Highway was supposed to have started next year but has been pushed back to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project is to last for 36 months at a cost of US$220 million funded by the Government of Jamaica through the National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC).

TJH Non-Executive Director Ivan Anderson said the company would definitely be placing a bid to operate the highway when the time comes. Speaking in an interview at the end of the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Tuesday at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, Anderson, who is also managing director of NROCC, said the project is currently in the design phase.

He declared that once construction of the toll road is completed then TJH, like any other interested party, would put in a bid to operate the toll road.

“That’s where we are with Montego Bay,” Anderson added as he gave an update on the toll road for the second city.

EXERCISING RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL

Regarding the May Pen, Clarendon to Williamsfield, Manchester leg of Highway 2000 East-West, Anderson said during the AGM that TJH would be exercising its right of first refusal to own and operate the new leg of the highway. This additional leg would add a further 28km (more than 50 per cent) to the existing highway from Mandela Highway in St. Catherine to May Pen, Clarendon.

He stressed that, once successful, the operations of the new Montego Bay bypass toll road and the extended East-West leg to Williamsfield, Manchester would provide additional sources of revenue for the toll concessionaire, which has been losing revenue because of dwindling use of the highway as a result of restrictions brought on by COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

DWINDLING TRAFFIC VOLUMES

Traffic on the highway dipped 16.4 per cent between January and September due to the impact of the pandemic. On average, the highway records a monthly usage of 1.9 million runs but this fell to approximately 940,000 during April, due to lockdown measures and closure of St Catherine to contain the virus.

Traffic pass through recovered in July, with usage of 1.7 million traffic runs, but this dipped in August and September due to increased lockdown measures and the continued closure of schools.

In order to boost its revenue flows, TJH has been holding discussions with a number of private and public sector developers along the highway corridor to facilitate access to the toll road from the new housing developments coming on stream.

These new developments are mostly south of the highway. TJH estimates that some 14,000 new houses will be constructed in the Bernard Lodge and surrounding areas in St Catherine.

In addition, TJH disclosed plans to set up a second Total gas station in a zone along the Causeway Bridge in Portmore, St. Catherine. This would augment the existing gas station at Old Harbour.