Motorists resigned to beating tires, suspensions and nerves while slowly picking their way along St. Croix’s pothole-strewn Southshore Road will be glad to know that $4.6 million in smooth sailing is ahead.
According to Department of Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson, the infamously cratered road will see major reconstruction beginning in September — thanks to federal funding and the imminent opening of the Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino.
Along with Southshore Road, Thompson said Route 707 at Constitution Hill and Route 73 from Mon Bijou to Scenic Road West will also be fixed. The $4.6 million to resurface, reconstruct, rehabilitate and renovate some of St. Croix’s worst roads is 100 percent federally funded, he said.
"We’re focusing first on Southshore Road with the opening of the casino and hotel," Thompson said. "We want to basically stimulate the economy not only with this capital project, but to have synergy with other projects on the island.
"One of those is the casino and hotel," he said.
David Riel, DPW’s assistant program manager in the Office of Highway Engineering, said that some 16 miles of road will see improvement. He said that typical road projects in the territory usually entail a half-mile to two miles worth of work.
"When you consider the length of roads on the island," said Thompson, "this is a fairly considerable size we’re trying to accomplish."
Work will begin at the intersection of Queen Mary Highway and Route 62 near the Cool Out Bar going north to south to where the road makes a hard left-hand turn and Southshore Road begins. From there, sections of road all the way to the Southshore Cafe in Sally’s Fancy will be reconstructed.
"In some areas we will take out completely the old road and properly construct new roads," Thompson said.
Route 60, from the Great Pond area to Cramer Park, will be spot-paved where needed.
Much of the road problems on St. Croix can be attributed to heavy vehicles traveling on paved-over Danish estate roads used to cart goods to the island’s two towns, Thompson said.
"A lot of times, these roads weren’t engineered or designed properly," he said. "They were never designed as roads as such."
Determining when the project will be finished depends on when the lowest bid contractor, V.I. Paving, submits final contractual paperwork, which Thompson said would probably be sometime next week. The second lowest bid was $5.8 million.
In a press conference Friday, Gov. Charles Turnbull said work could be completed by the end of December. The Divi Carina Bay Resort is set to open Oct. 15, while the casino is scheduled to open sometime in December.
