Feb. 11, 2004 – Black plastic hooded road signs appearing over the last week and a flashing display atop a trailer at the hairpin turn on Route 35/Mafolie Road herald the coming of road construction in the Estate Elizabeth and Mafolie Estate areas which will change traffic patterns on a section of one of the major arteries into and out of Charlotte Amalie for the next four months.
The Public Works Department will be constructing a retaining wall on the south side of Route 35 at the intersection of Skyline Drive/Route 40, reducing to one lane the stretch of road between Louisenhoj Castle and the intersection of Route 33, the road that goes past Mafolie Hotel.
Beginning Feb. 17, here's how it will work: The affected stretch of road will be one-way going south into town from midnight to 9:30 a.m. and one-way going north out of town from 9:30 a.m. to midnight – 24/7 until work is completed.
In order to accommodate the one-way restriction, traffic will be re-routed to Route 33 past Mafolie Hotel, Joseph Sibilly School and Drake's Seat from midnight to 9:30 a.m. and the exact opposite – past Drake's Seat, Sibilly School and Mafolie Hotel from 9:30 a.m. to midnight.
Public Works could simultaneously be re-constructing another area of road on the southwest side of Route 33 just below Sib's Mountain Bar & Restaurant, where the roadway caved in during November's heavy rains. Drake's Seat and the narrow roadway below Sib's are likely to be extremely hazardous areas with the increase in traffic.
The area below Sib's where part of the road is gone will be particularly tricky and dangerous –whether or not under construction – as a row of hedges currently obstructs the view of traffic coming up the now-narrowed hill for those traveling downhill from the school.
Nelson Petty, Public Works assistant construction engineer, said he was attempting to have someone trim the hedge.
In a release from Government House, Public Works Commissioner Wayne Callwood said: "Since the designated detour route is narrow in some areas, I am asking that larger vehicles travel alternate routes to avoid the area." If they don't, he said, "We will enforce the alternate route."
Callwood said the detour signs should "ease … navigation."
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