The pothole-filled, unpaved road being used as the main thoroughfare from Spring Village to Cumberland will be upgraded even as road users await the repair of the main road, which began to fail years ago.
Minister of Works Montgomery Daniel said on NBC Radio on Wednesday that the repair work on the road, which leads from Spring Village to North Leeward, but collapsed last year, is now slated to begin in January 2026.
The upgrade of the bypass road would see motorists driving through VINLEC’s power station in Cumberland to bypass the bypass road.
“…. the condition there where a bypass was established and a bridge was built to take you across the river … is of concern,” Daniel said, adding that BRAGSA, the state-owned general services agency, had worked on the bypass road.
“… but they are now to upgrade the bypass. And so, in the upgrading, you would have to use the area that is being used by VINLEC,” he said.
Daniel said that the chief engineer will ask the state-owned power company to permit use of the road within its compound.
“And BRAGSA would do the upgrading of the bypass,” he said.
“So while that is done, of course, work on the main road at Sybil Hill is being looked at, and the Ministry of Transport and Works … had some discussions with another major contractor who [has] been engaged and [had] done work on similar conditions throughout the region, like in Dominica, where you have steep slopes and where landslides [had] occurred across a lot of major roads and so on.”
The works minister said that the contractor assessed the situation at Sybil Hill and made a submission to the government.
“… and the chief engineer at the moment is looking at the submission, which involves a design and a cost as well….”
He said that the amount is “much less than the $8 million” that was “originally identified”, adding that the EC$8 million “takes into account a lot more work, substantial work, which will take you into at least 18 months.
Daniel said the chief engineer was looking at the contractor’s submission and if it is satisfactory, will send it to the Cabinet for approval.
“But in the meantime, the temporary works have to be done so that you have a much better road surface on the bypass, and we then proceed to do more substantial work on the main road.”
Daniel said that the assessment that was done after the initial collapse of the road was not completed and EC$10 million was budgeted for the repair.