Morant Bay residents call for widening of Gordon Bridge

By Halshane Burke  

 

 

Motorists and residents of Morant Bay in St. Thomas are clamouring for the widening of the Gordon Bridge.

 

They claim that the narrowness of the bridge is posing a challenge to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and has been the site of several recent incidents. 

 

One resident says, in recent times, two trucks, travelling in opposite directions, got stuck on the bridge. 

 

While welcoming news that the St. Thomas Municipal Corporation is thinking of building a footbridge on the southern side of the structure, resident Roger Kirby argued that the bridge itself should be widened instead. 

 

"I have seen a backhoe working between the wall of the bridge and the Flow compound fence. This tells me that this space is wide enough to change the bridge from being a narrow bridge to a bridge that can have people walking across safely and vehicular traffic flowing properly," he suggested.

 

He pointed out that several other bridges in the parish have been widened without disrupting the flow of traffic. 

 

"I am a novice, but I believe that the road at Gordon Bridge can be widened on the side to the Flow compound without disrupting the flow of traffic. Quite recently, work was done under the narrow bridge by Paul Bogle High School, and it did not disrupt the flow of traffic, and now it is a wider bridge. Similarly, by Goat Pen, up in the Morant area, that narrow bridge became a wide bridge," he said.