Money had been secured and a contractor selected for long-awaited paving and drainage work in the large west-end St. Croix neighborhood of Williams Delight, Gov. John deJongh Jr. and Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls said Wednesday.
The project has been budgeted for $6 million, and GEC, Inc., a local company, has been selected to begin building drainage structures and roadways in the southwestern section of William’s Delight, according to a statement from Government House Wednesday.
“This project is a part of my administration’s commitment to the residents of this heavily populated community to address the problems they have experienced with both flooding and deteriorated roadways for years," deJongh said. "We unfortunately experienced some delays as the initial proposals we received were excessively priced, which required us to re-issue the bid specs, which further delayed our start date. I appreciate the understanding of the Williams Delight residents as we worked through these challenges.”
When complete, the road work will bring relief to the residents of William’s Delight, who for years have dealt with flooding, badly rutted partially paved and unpaved roads and the incomplete remains of earlier work to install large box culverts to capture and divert rainwater.
“Our initial focus is to address the most critical and heavily impacted section in this community,” said Smalls. “While this first phase of work gets underway, my department will be working to complete the plans and specifications for the remaining sections so that by September, we will be ready to advertise for bids. By performing the work in two phases, the opportunity exists to have two contractors working simultaneously in two different sections of the project. This will allow for an expedited construction schedule.”
Government House has secured $4 million to add to $2 million already in the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund for a total of $6 million for the entire job.
“While there may be some inconveniences as work gets under way on this major capital project, I know residents will welcome the improvements that are slated for this roadway in William’s Delight.”
Smalls said there will be disruptions to traffic flow during construction, but emphasized the long-term benefits of permanent major road improvements in the William’s Delight community.
The first phase of work carries a $2.1 million dollar contract price tag and work is expected to be completed in this initial phase within four months, according to Government House.
