A major week-long program of road maintenance, drainage improvements and infrastructure upgrades across multiple parishes of Barbados is set to launch on August 31, carried out by the country’s Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW), and will run through September 4. This coordinated initiative covers everything from pothole patching to full road rehabilitation, alongside targeted safety improvements for local communities and schools.
One key ongoing disruption for drivers remains in effect in the parish of St Peter, where Farm Bridge will stay closed to all traffic until the MTW issues a new update. Motorists traveling between the town of Speightstown and the Ronald Mapp Highway are being redirected to use Warleigh Road as an alternative route for the foreseeable future.
Large-scale road rehabilitation and new construction projects are already progressing across multiple sites around the island, with work continuing through the scheduled upgrade week. These active locations include Chancery Lane in Christ Church, Cottage Vale in St Philip, Crab Hill in St Lucy, the stretch of Highway D connecting Lester Vaughan School to Content in St Thomas, the Ermy Bourne Highway in St Andrew, and the community of St Judes in St George.
In St George parish, the MTW has planned targeted works beyond major rehabilitation projects: new speed humps will be installed directly outside St Luke’s Primary School to improve student pedestrian safety, while crews will carry out scheduled pothole patching in the Sweet Vale neighborhood and along the corridor connecting Newbury to St Judes.
In the heavily populated parish of St Michael, preparation work for full paving is ongoing at Emmerton Lane. Other continuing works in the area include repairs to a damaged retaining headwall at Fontabelle, and replacement of worn manhole grilles along the Mighty Grynner Highway.
System-wide drain cleaning, a critical preventative measure against flooding during rainy periods, is also scheduled for multiple high-traffic areas across the island. These include sections of the ABC Highway, central Bridgetown, Enterprise Main Road, Belleplaine, Passage Road, and Bay Street.
Daytime work crews, operating between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday (weather permitting), will handle multiple upgrades: MTW road marking teams will repaint stop lines and install new replacement road signs in St George, while crews will repaint retaining headwalls along the 2A Highway. Overnight crews, working from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. Monday through Thursday, will handle a nationwide project to repaint faded school crossing markings, minimizing disruption to daytime school and traffic operations.
In a public advisory released alongside the schedule, the MTW issued an urgent appeal to all motorists: drivers must reduce their speed when passing through active work zones. The ministry warned that speeding through construction and maintenance areas not only puts frontline road workers at severe risk of injury, but can also cause irreversible damage to freshly painted road markings before the paint fully cures.
All works are subject to adjustment in the event of unfavorable weather conditions, the MTW confirmed.