With work scheduled to cause road closures and delays throughout the territory, the Virgin Islands government on Friday released a consolidated list of the projects, their timing and impact for the following week.
The decision to issue consolidated list came after a meeting earlier in the week between the Office of the Governor and representatives of government agencies and departments as well as private sector companies. The meeting resulted in a "joint messaging campaign" to alert the public of construction projects that will adversely affect traffic and delay movement across the islands.
“The Virgin Islands Next Generation Network, Water and Power Authority, Waste Management Authority and Innovative have projects under way, primarily on St. Croix,” Gov. John de Jongh Jr. said in a statement issued Friday by Government House. “I thought it best that my office should act as a coordinating entity to gather the information from all entities and put forward a comprehensive update to the public as to how traffic flow will be adversely affected.”
The comprehensive reports will be provided weekly through traditional news outlets such as the Source, on VI Alert and the VITEMA and Office of the Governor web sites, the statement said. When necessary, the V.I. Police Department also will issue advisories regarding major changes in traffic flow around the various construction sites.
The schedule, by agency, for March 25 through 29 follows:
INNOVATIVE
Innovative is currently working on two projects that will affect the flow of traffic over the next few weeks on St. Croix:
- Southgate to Cotton Valley Project – Innovative construction crews began performing excavation work along Route 82 (East End Road) starting at Southgate and ending at the Cotton Valley Remote. This project will take six weeks to complete.
- Sion Farm to Christiansted Project – Innovative construction crews are installing fiber optic cable along Route 70 (Queen Mary Highway) to King Street in Christiansted, most of the work will be done on the shoulder of the road. The project is scheduled for completion on April 5.
At the present time, Innovative does not have any projects on St. Thomas and St. John that will affect the traffic flow.
VIRGIN ISLANDS WATER AND POWER AUTHORITY
- Christiansted Underground Project Phase II – Major civil work on this project is complete. WAPA is now awaiting an easement agreement for one location on Strand Street between Queen Cross and King Cross Streets. Once work commences, the trenching work will be on private property however, there may be very brief traffic flow interruptions when a piece of heavy equipment is being positioned to enter the site.
- Charlotte Amalie Hazard Mitigation Project – This is also an ongoing undergrounding project.
- Through April 1 – WAPA will excavate for an electrical duct bank in the parking area along Veteran’s Drive in front of Foot Locker to Down Island Trader and install a manhole to make connections to the Raadets Gade duct bank already installed. This work will be mostly at night with limited day work. Pedestrian traffic will be unaffected. There will be limited or no vehicular traffic affected in this area. During excavation some parking spaces will be secured.
- Though March 24 – Crews will excavate at night for an electrical duct bank in the area of Store Tvaer Gade with limited or no interruption to vehicular or pedestrian traffic.
- Through April 14 – Night work continues in alleyways on Raadets Gade with no obstructions. Raadets Gade is open to all traffic.
- Through May – Terminations of high voltage cables and pad mount transformer installations are ongoing in several areas, including Dronnigens Gade, Hibiscus Alley, Store Tvaer Gade, Raadets Gade, Veteran’s Drive and A.H. Riise area at night until June. There will be minimum or no vehicular traffic interruptions. Pedestrian traffic will be allowed in all areas.
There are no traffic flow interruptions scheduled during the Carnival season.
At this time, no regular water or power line maintenance projects are scheduled for next week.
VIRGIN ISLANDS NEXT GENERATION NETWORK
- On St. Thomas, trenching continues along the Weymouth Rhymer Highway (Route 38). Trenching is under way from Edith Williams Elementary School to near Fort Mylner Shopping Center. The highway will be closed to vehicular traffic from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
- Nightly trenching along the Weymouth Rhymer Highway will be completed by 6 a.m. Saturday. Motorists are asked to follow traffic directions for the safety of crews, pedestrians and other drivers.
- On St. Croix, trenching will begin from Orange Grove Intersection along Route 75, passing along Bingo Hall and Richmond Post Office to the intersection Kings Street and Contentment Road.
- Innerduct and fiber pulling will commence from Route 68 (Hess Road) and Route 70 (Queen Mary Highway) to Orange Grove Intersection (Route 75).
- Aerial will commence from Divi Carina Bay Resort along Route 60, westward towards Union and Mount Washington then along Route 624 and finally along Route 66 (South Shore Road) to Estate Humbug and Estate Catherine Rest.
WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY
On St. Croix – The VI Waste Management Authority advises residents of the planned road closure and lane reduction as part of the LBJ Phases 2 and 3 Force Main Sewer Line Rehabilitation Project.
There will be nightly lane closures beginning at 7 p.m. and ending no later than 5 a.m. The lane will be closed in 1.000-foot intervals. Active work areas will be secured daily with barricades with reflective surfaces. Temporary road closures will occur in 20-minute intervals to allow for road crossing to complete a connection.
The road and land closures for this week include the following:
- Queen Mary Highway, Route 70 the road will be reduced to one lane beginning at the entrance to Queste Verde Condominiums for 1,000 feet; the entire road will be closed for a 20 minute window in order to install the pump around piping in the trench.
- Queen Mary Highway: Starting Saturday, through Sunday, April 7th, at 7pm, the road will be reduce to one lane beginning at the entrance to Queste Verde Condominiums northward to the intersection by Golden Rock Shopping Center in 1000ft intervals each day.
The schedule may be modified at any time due to inclement weather.
- The LBJ Force Main Phases 2 and 3 Project includes the installation of 4500 linear feet of a structural liner inside of the existing 24-inch ductile iron sewer line pipe. The project travel east along Northside Road (Route 75) and south along Queen Mary Highway (Route 70). The project will end in the vicinity of the intersection of Queen Mary Highway and the entrance to Queste Verde Condominiums by Beeston Hill.
More information is available by contacting the Office of Communications Management at (340) 715-9110 or (340) 690-4218.
