Highway 2000

Parish: St. Catherine

Archaeological Impact Assessment Project (AIA)

The Highway 2000 is Jamaica's first toll highway. It will be constructed in two phases. Phase 1 of the project will extend across a 74 km distance from Kingston to Mandeville. It will include the construction of a new six-lane bridge across the Portmore Causeway and upgrading of the existing Dyke Road. The second phase of the project will be implemented later with two remaining corridors: a 85 km section from Mandeville to Montego Bay and a 67 km from Bushy Park to Ocho Rios.
This segment of the highway will cut through some historic areas such as Passage Fort, Amity Hall, and Cherry Gardens. During the period of Spanish occupation Passage Fort was one of the chief places of embankment for St. Jago de la Vega (Spanish Town) and contained a small fort.

When the English invaded Jamaica in 1655 they came ashore at Passage Fort. During the English occupation a small town sprang up around the area but the port lost its importance to Port Henderson in 1750. Amity Hall and Cherry Gardens estates engaged in sugar, bananas and cattle production and may contain historic and archaeological material. In fact the entire section may contain archaeological material pertaining to all cultural groups ranging from the Taino to African-Jamaican.