Jamaica North Coast Highway ?

I have read on visitjamaica.com that there is a new highway called the
North Coast Highway which makes the travel time from Montego Bay to
Negril less. Previous travel times were 90 minutes. Does anyone have
experience on taking this highway and what are the travel times?

"Dave" <candu2D56@m> wrote in message
news:2c1fae2b.0402190515.34dc983e@c om...
> I have read on visitjamaica.com that there is a new highway called the
> North Coast Highway which makes the travel time from Montego Bay to
> Negril less. Previous travel times were 90 minutes. Does anyone have
> experience on taking this highway and what are the travel times?

The new highway incorporates some of the old, and much new. The travel time
is about an hour or so. Before the new road, when the construction was
going on, the travel times were in the neighborhood of almost two hours.
You still go through Reading, Lucea, and Green Island. Many other towns are
bypassed, and you are sometimes more inland than before. Good road all the
way, but the usual slowdown in Lucea due to the narrow streets and one way
traffic around the market. Also you DO have to watch out for cows in the
road, after Reading.

I can make it from the airport to the Negril roundabout in about an hour
ten, without too much speeding.

If you aren't in a real hurry, I still recommend taking the left in Reading
and heading over the hill through Anchovie and Montpelier, and then over to
Sav and in the Sav road. Great trip through the hills, with different
scenery and things. Not many going that way since the new road, and it is a
great way to see more of Jamaica.

Dave

"Dave" <candu2D56@m> wrote in message
news:2c1fae2b.0402190515.34dc983e@c om...
> I have read on visitjamaica.com that there is a new highway called
the
> North Coast Highway which makes the travel time from Montego Bay to
> Negril less. Previous travel times were 90 minutes. Does anyone have
> experience on taking this highway and what are the travel times?

I took it recently and found the time saving to be -somewhat-
overhyped. Yes, it's better in many places (although still
incorporating some of the old road), and yes, it is shorter and a
smoother ride. But one still must get in and out of Mobay (the
airport, for example), and one still must go through a number of
relatively smaller towns and Lucea along the way. However, previous
travel times often were considerably longer than 90 minutes, and the
road did cut the time down to about that or a bit less when I took it.
However, it is not a one hour trip yet during the day IMO.

FWIW, the advise in another post above regarding the alternate route
is excellent if one has a bit extra time. It's worth doing at least
one way and doesn't take -that- much longer.