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Prime
Minister To Pay His First Toll
The Most Honourable
PJ Patterson, ON, PC, QC, MP, Prime Minister of Jamaica will pay his
first toll at the Vineyards Toll Plaza located on the newly-opened
section of Phase 1a of Highway 2000, tomorrow, September 25.
The Prime Minister,
who will be en route to a National Housing Trust function in New
Yarmouth, will pass through the Toll Plaza at approximately 2:30pm and
pay his first toll. Although the Toll Plaza has been open since
Monday, motorists will begin paying the specified tolls as of 12:01am
tomorrow.
Tolls will be paid at
the Vineyards Toll Plaza on a 24-hour, 7 days per week basis, using
either cash or a prepaid TAG card. The prepaid TAG card, available at
the Toll Plaza’s Sales Office, works like a debit card that can accept
as well as release funds.
The driver puts a TAG
sticker on the windshield and enters the Toll Plaza in a lane that is
reserved only for TAG payments. On stopping at the toll booth, the
laser scans the TAG sticker and then automatically deducts the correct
amount before the barrier is lifted. In addition, a warning is
displayed on the electronic monitor when the driver’s account is
running low.
There are three categories of toll
fees that are dependent on the size of the vehicle:
Category 1, $50
– for vehicles less than 2m high and of any length, including
motor cars, small sport utility vehicles, and motorcycles
Category 2, $60
— for vehicles more than 2m high and less than 5.5m long, including
large sport utility vehicles, some pickup trucks, and minibuses
Category 3, $120
— for vehicles more than 2m high and more than 5.5m long, which
includes large buses, trucks and trailers
All users, including
GOJ licensed (yellow plate), PPV (red plate), trailers, towing
vehicles (wreckers), as well diplomatic vehicles must pay tolls. Only
government emergency vehicles such as paramedic ambulances, the
police, the army and fire trucks are exempt.
Highway 2000 is a
high-speed, four-lane dual carriageway that is 26.6m wide. Traffic
going in opposite directions will be separated by a median barrier.
Each of the four lanes is 3.65m wide. On either side of the highway
there is a 1m verge and a hard shoulder that will be between 2.5m and
3m wide. In addition, the highway has a 3.6m reserve.
Among the safety
features are hard shoulders that make emergency pullovers along the
highway safer. Underneath this hard shoulder is a network of fibre
optic cables that connect to emergency telephone kiosks and traffic
monitoring stations at various locations along the route. The
telephones are clearly labeled “SOS” and motorists can use these to
alert the highway patrol and other emergency response vehicles.
Security fencing
along the entire length of road is designed to keep out wandering
livestock. Pedestrians are not allowed to cross the Highway except at
the designated overhead and underpass crossings located along the
Highway.
September 24, 2003
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