Expect delays of more than an hour from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday as road crews pave the North Shore Road switchback that runs between Trunk Bay and Peter Bay.
“All of the paving will be done by Friday afternoon,” said Keith Macneir, chief of maintenance for V.I. National Park.
He doesn’t anticipate any delays in the project, which means all of the North Shore Road will be open and paved for Sunday’s Love City Triathlon.
Essentially, people who don’t want to sit in traffic for over an hour should use the western end of the North Shore Road to reach Trunk, Jumbie, Hawksnest, and Caneel bays. This means they need to get there from the Cruz Bay end of the North Shore Road. Anyone wishing to visit Annaberg Plantation, Francis Bay, Maho Bay, and Cinnamon Bay should start out from the Coral Bay end of Centerline Road near the smoothie stand. They should take King Hill Road to the North Shore Road.
According to Macneir, the Trunk Bay switchback will be open from 5 p.m. Thursday to 8 a.m. Friday so commuters and evening drivers will be able to get through.
The Island Roads paving crew working on the project and the park staff will find a way for emergency vehicles to get through during daytime hours, Macneir said.
Paving of the Trunk Bay switchback wraps up the paving part of a project that began in September 2009. Macneir anticipated some delay in getting the road markings in place because there is no thermoplastic paint available anywhere in the United States. He said that Stimulus Funds projects across the country depleted the available supply.
