Highway 2000
| Highway 2000 | |
|---|---|
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| Route information | |
| Maintained by Jamaica Infrastructure Operator (JIO) | |
| Length: | 149.7 km (93.0 mi) |
| Existed: | 2003 – present |
| Major junctions | |
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North-South Leg
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North-South Leg
Highway 2000 is a highway connecting Kingston, with Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, passing through the parishes of St. Catherine, Saint Ann, Manchester and proposed sections through St. James, Saint Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover. The highway is operated by the Jamaica Infrastructure Operators and developed by Trans-Jamaica Highway Limited through contractors CHEC and Bouygues Construction.
The highway is a four-to-six lane controlled-access, tolled motorway with grade-separated interchanges and intersections built according to modern international standards. Tolling of the highway is governed by a Tolling Policy.
The highway was built on a phased basis. Phases 1A and 1B are considered as the East-West Leg (T1) and Portmore Causeway (T2). Phase 2A is considered as the North-South Leg (T3).
On September 15, 2009, Jamaica's then prime minister, Bruce Golding, announced to Parliament that Highway 2000 was to be renamed in honour of Usain Bolt, however, Bolt decided to reject the honour.
The Highway 2000 project was conceptualized by Government of Jamaica (by former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson) in September 1999. The main objective of this project was to upgrade Jamaica's infrastructure, provide economic opportunities for growth and create jobs. The Project is a public-private partnership structured to maximize operational efficiency and minimize costs. The project is still ongoing, with the direct link to Montego Bay yet to be determined.
Notably, the intention of connecting Jamaica via such a comprehensive highway system, was first expressed and clearly defined in the Jamaican Transportation Survey of 1968/69; as a matter of fact, much of the current Highway 2000 alignments were proposed and defined therein, including the phase 1, East-West Leg and Portmore Causeway, phase 2, North-South Leg as well as a proposal to connect the East-West Leg to Montego Bay. The proposed highway system was also included and adpoted in the National Physical Plan for Jamaica 1970-90 with suggestions to have an alternate North-South Leg from May Pen to Discovery Bay as opposed to the one actually constructed (at present) from Caymanas to Ocho Rios. The NPP was a non-partisan Plan for Jamaica, first conducted under the United Nations Special Fund Project "Assistance in Physical Planning". The Plan was drafted by the then Town Planning Department (now NEPA) of the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Jamaica, and vetted by the then Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Most Honourable Hugh Lawson Shearer ON OJ, as well as the Minister of Finance and Planning, the Most Honourable Edward Philip George Seaga ON.
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