Jan. 10, 2002 – The Gateway Planning Council kicked off its effort to develop a Cruz Bay master plan on Thursday by soliciting information about issues and ideas from the nearly 50 people who attended a meeting at the Marketplace.
Numerous ideas surfaced, most of them focusing on ways to address Cruz Bay's traffic congestion and parking problems. "Everybody built without considering parking," council member Myron Allick pointed out.
Suggestions included:
– Creating a bypass road to route traffic from the North Shore Road to Centerline Road without going through downtown Cruz Bay.
– Developing a low-cost shuttle to encourage parking in outlying areas.
– Creating a different staging area for taxis than the Cruz Bay waterfront currently used.
"Put the taxis in the Port Authority lot," police officer and taxi driver Elvis Sprauve suggested. That space, located across from the post office, is now the largest parking area in Cruz Bay.
No suggestions were forthcoming on where to put more parking.
The V.I. government plans to construct a vendors plaza and a 100-space parking lot on government-owned property now used as a parking lot across from the Creek; however, that project is not yet under way. St. John Administrator Julien Harley said a request for proposals for that project is being prepared. The building will have vendor space and minimal parking on the first floor and all parking on the second floor.
The four businesses now leasing land in and around the existing lot will get priority access to the vendor space. Harley said the businesses will be moved to the old Motor Vehicle Bureau building near the public tennis courts while the vendors plaza is under construction. There appears to be no alternative provision for the several dozen vehicles that now fill the lot daily. Jim Owens, acting V.I. National Park planner, said a new parking lot will be not opened while the vendors plaza is built.
The Gateway Planning Council, a joint effort between the V.I. National Park and Harley's office, now has a professional planner from the National Park Service's Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program on island to help develop the master plan. It's a one-year assignment for the planner, Deidre Hewitt.
Another Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program planner, Hugh Osborne, has spent the last six weeks developing short-term plans for improving Cruz Bay. Osborne worked on developing a way to make the town safer for pedestrians and on a signage program to help visitors and residents find their way around.
He suggested installing crosswalks instructing pedestrians to look right when crossing. Since most visitors are from the mainland, where they drive on the right, they tend to look to the left. Osborne also suggested creating small parks. "Certain places around town are just ugly," he said. He suggested greening up the area next to Scotia Bank's trailer where stairs connect two different street levels, as well as landscaping the Creek.
Osborne displayed prototypes of a sign system. With a blue background bordered by a checkerboard, it sports a palm tree and a sun.
Harley and others provided updates on other projects. He said the Finance Department has now moved from the Battery to the new Motor Vehicle Bureau building, located near the public tennis courts.
Council member Chris Angel said work on improvements to Cruz Bay Park has slowed because the group has not yet raised the $171,000 needed for the project. So far, Angel said, fundraising efforts have netted $13,000.
