In bureaucrat-speak, the St. Croix Island-wide Pavement Preservation Project really means doing away with the island’s proliferating potholes.
On Monday, Gov. Charles Turnbull will cut the ceremonial ribbon that will start the repaving and rebuilding of most of the pothole-filled Southshore Road.
According to Department of Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson, the $5.3 million project is federally funded and will cover more than 16 miles of road on the Big Island. The majority of work will be done to Southshore Road, the main route to the Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino. The resort is set to open in October and the casino in December.
Road 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 turn and Southshore Road begins. From there, sections of road all the way to the Southshore Cafe in Sally’s Fancy will be reconstructed.
Along with Southshore Road, Thompson said, Route 707 at Constitution Hill, running from Peter’s Rest to the Beeston Hill Medical Complex, and Route 73 from Mon Bijou to Scenic Road West will also be fixed. The millions of dollars to resurface, reconstruct, rehabilitate and renovate some of St. Croix’s worst roads is 100 percent federally funded, he said.
"The completion of this road improvement program," Turnbull said, "will provide a quality road system to the residents of that area and also to residents and guests going to the Treasure Bay Casino and the Divi Divi Hotel."
Turnbull has previously stated that the road project will be completed by the end of December.
Most of the road problems on St. Croix can be attributed to heavy vehicles traveling on paved-over Danish estate roads that were never designed for large loads,Thompson said.
