by DONNA SEALY

FIVE FLYOVERS will be built on the ABC Highway along with an underpass and two small roundabouts, while one roundabout will be shifted.

And though not in the initial plan, two more overpasses could be added in the future.

Minister of Public Works Gline Clarke told the DAILY NATION yesterday in a telephone interview that the "scope of work" had been agreed between the ministry and the contractors, the United States-based 3S Structural Steel Solution.

C.O. Williams Construction and Rayside Construction will also be involved in the project.

Flyovers will be constructed at the Garfield Sobers Roundabout; in Upton outside Cable & Wireless (C&W) where traffic will enter/exit by the Shell gas station and enter/exit atop the hill in Wildey; by the Emancipation (Bussa) Statue in St Barnabas; by Norman Niles Roundabout and a double one in Warrens by the D'Arcy Scott and Everton Weekes Roundabouts.

Clarke said most of the designs had been completed, but in the area by C&W the final design for the flyover had not been determined because of the limited amount of land available.

The minister said there would be a final engineers' report where height and distance of the overpass had to be worked out.

Noting that more meetings had to take place to determine the exact cost of the project, he said the $120 million figure given before was "a ballpark" one and the ministry would try to keep the cost down wherever possible.

"We have tried to scale the cost down. We have agreed that we have to widen the highway first and we have agreed that in the first phase the road will be widened from Warrens to Norman Niles Roundabout and then to Cable & Wireless.

"This (widening) should start within another two to three weeks.

"We're hoping that while work is going on, the steel structures will go in. We're also hoping that one or two will go before the World Cup, but we can't say this definitively will happen.

"The ministry is geared up, the machinery is in place. We've had several meetings which the Prime Minister [Owen Arthur] chaired. Cabinet has approved, even though we have to prepare a final agreement for after the lease."

The flyovers would be built under a build, own, lease and transfer (BOLT) arrangement, Clarke repeated, which would be for the design, construction and installation of overpass steel structures, the widening of highway and the introduction of a computerised central system.

And given the traffic that uses the area of Hothersal Turning, Clarke said the team was looking at widening this area "with the possibility of having a flyover at a later date".

"We have also been looking at The Belle junction. It is a contentious area and we've noted that with the highway being widened into four lanes, it will be dangerous to turn right off the highway; so we're looking at having a roundabout there as well or a flyover," said the minister.

He also said an underpass would be built at St Barnabas going from Mount Friendship across the street to the Anglican Church for pedestrians.

He noted the ministry was looking at having a small roundabout by the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic to make it easier for pedestrians to cross the traffic.

A recommendation has also been made to relocate the Emancipation Statue to a spot of land in Haggatt Hall, and create a park to be called Emancipation Park with proper facilities.

donnasealy@nationnews.com