Troy Bridge reopens in Trelawny after 2021 collapse

The Government has officially reopened the Troy Bridge in Trelawny, restoring a major crossing used by residents, students, farmers, businesses and commuters travelling between southern Trelawny and north-western Manchester.

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness, Works Minister Robert Nesta Morgan, Trelawny Southern MP Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, Manchester North Western MP Mikhail Phillips, National Works Agency representatives, municipal officials, students and residents of Troy and nearby communities.

Speakers said the bridge had served the area for more than 150 years before it collapsed during Tropical Storm Grace in August 2021. Its failure disrupted movement across the Hector’s River and affected communities including Troy, Oxford, Cowick Park and Glasgow. Students faced longer routes to school, farmers struggled to move produce, and families and businesses had to absorb added travel time and cost.

Permanent Secretary Arlene Williams said the reopening marked the return of an important connection and thanked the National Works Agency, the ministry, engineers, consultants and Dwight’s Construction Limited for bringing the project to completion. Local representatives also thanked residents for their patience during the years of inconvenience.

Phillips said the project showed how representatives from different political sides could press together for work that affected both constituencies. He also urged the Government to continue paying attention to roads in rural Jamaica.

Morgan said the new structure was built with resilience in mind and had already been tested by severe weather. He said the Government had approved an accelerated bridge programme to replace more than 50 bridges across Jamaica over two and a half years, with emphasis on western parishes affected by Hurricane Melissa. He also announced planned upgrading of the Troy to Warsop road valued at $280 million under the SPARK main road programme.

Holness said the original bridge dated to 1869 and formed part of Jamaica’s older public works network. He used the opening to argue that Jamaica must modernise ageing roads and bridges while speeding up approval systems for critical infrastructure. He said the Troy project should be treated as a lesson on the cost communities bear when essential works take too long.