Coastal Road Completely Flooded

Lennox Bradley

The Coastal Road is completely inundated with flood waters; an aerial view of the road shows that it has been overtaken by rising flood waters.  Works are being done on the road and fill materials placed in certain sections.  Chief Engineer at the Ministry of Works, Lennox Bradley is cautioning motorists who attempt to traverse the Coastal Road.

Lennox Bradley, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Works

“We had sort of a glitch on the Coastal Highway. That is a road that we are also upgrading to pave standard and I would want to advice motorist to be very careful on that road because we are lifting the road. Some sections of the road need to be lifted three feet. The fill material is of a certain quality. And we are at that level right now where we are just placing fill material because of the nature of fill material it could be a bit slipper and so we are asking motorists to use extreme caution when driving on that road. We had a little glitch on the approach of Manatee Bridge where we had minor washout. A small four foot section on the approach of the bridge. The material was washed away from the approach s there was a big gap there but the contractor Imer Hernandez Development Limited, I think that is resolved by now or soon will be resolved. But it is open.  The Hummingbird – that is open. In the past we used to have some areas where we have had difficulty access even during the construction period. Last year we had the Saint Margaret’s as part of the bridge but that bridge has been completed and is designed for a return period and the sort of rainfall that we are getting right now, those bridges at Dry Creek and at Saint Margaret’s, those are well designed. They can take the flooding. We don’t have any problems between here and the Hummingbird Highway.”