Mapp approved contract for Melvin Evans Highway repairs and reviewed priority road projects

Gov. Kenneth E. Mapp met with Virgin Islands Public Works Department personnel during the week of June 18, 2018, to review ongoing and completed road projects and to set priorities for planned work across St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John.

Government House said priority areas discussed included Whim Road, Anna’s Hope, Smithfield, Estate Work and Rest, Union and Mt. Washington, Estate Diamond/Mt. Pleasant and Queen Mary Highway on St. Croix; Centerline Road on St. John; and Raphune Hill, Anna’s Retreat, Estate Tutu, Peterborg and Pilgrim’s Terrace Bypass on St. Thomas.

On June 21, 2018, Mapp approved a contract for repairs to St. Croix’s Melvin Evans Highway. Government House said the $5.6 million project covered paving, repairs and safety work from West Airport Road to the Industrial Park intersection.

V.I. Paving was awarded the contract, which was funded through Federal Highway Administration GARVEE bonds. The contract called for completion within 165 days.

Government House also said an assessment of the territory’s 1,273-mile public road system had been conducted earlier in 2018 after the 2017 storms. The Department of Public Works, with assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, estimated that modernizing all territorial roads would cost $1.2 billion.

According to the statement, more than $530 million had been identified for the first phase of road construction.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/virgin-islands-road-projects-are-prioritized/