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Public Works Provides Update on State of V.I. Roads

When heavy rains from Tropical Storm Otto hit the territory, reconstruction work at St. Thomas’ Mandela Circle solved long-term flooding problems in areas where contractors had completed work, Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls said in a Monday telephone press conference.
“We did not see any flooding that had plagued that area,” Smalls said.
However, the area where work isn’t done near the Guardian Building on Havensight Road flooded. Smalls said the planned improvements in that area will eliminate the drainage issues.
Smalls called the press conference to provide an update on the Mandela Circle project, as well as the state of roads throughout the territory.
He apologized for the traffic delays last week caused by work on the traffic lights at the Mandela Circle project.
According to Smalls, work from Yacht Haven west to the Lucinda Millin home is ongoing. He said that while the V.I. Water and Power Authority completed work on its lines through the area, Innovative Telephone has yet to do so.
That section of the project will have four lanes and a median.
Work on the area from Mandela Circle to the West Indian Co. will begin in 2011, Smalls said.
On St. John, Smalls said that the government hopes to start work before the end of the year on widening and paving Kinghill Road to provide an alternate access to Coral Bay. (Maps list the road as Kinghill but Public Works calls it Kingshill).
The road, which is now a one-lane dirt road, runs from the yogurt stand on Centerline Road downhill to the road where Love City Minimart sits. Smalls said the project would cost $800,000.
The huge mud, rock and tree mudslide that runs from Carey Mercurio’s house in the Upper Carolina neighborhood to Centerline Road continues to slide downhill, Smalls said. The slide is one of several slides and undercut areas along Centerline Road.
Smalls pointed out that at this and other locations around the territory where the hillsides gave way, crews must leave some of the debris on the road to help stabilize the slides.
He asked drivers to proceed cautiously through areas with slides and undermined areas.
Public Works crews have now marked those areas, Smalls said.
He said that debris pickup and road repairs are funded through the Public Works Department budget but that he hopes to recoup the money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
President Obama declared the territory a federal disaster area following Hurricane Earl, but Smalls said that information is still being gathered on Otto-related damages. That information will be forwarded to the federal government in hopes that the President will also issue a disaster declaration for Otto.
The danger of mudslides and flooding is not passed, Smalls said. He said that the ground remains extremely saturated and springs have appeared since Otto that contribute to the flooding.
“The water table is extremely high,” he said.
Some problem areas include Enfield Green on St. Croix, where crews constructed a temporary road to provide access to the area; Bordeaux on St. John; and Hull Bay, Crown Mountain Road and Smith Bay on St. Thomas.
However, Smalls said that all roads throughout the territory are passable.

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