Mapp breaks ground on Veterans Drive waterfront project on St. Thomas

Gov. Kenneth E. Mapp on May 15, 2018, broke ground on the Veterans Drive improvement project on St. Thomas, a waterfront road and promenade project in downtown Charlotte Amalie expected to cost more than $120 million.

Government House said the project had first been envisioned 34 years earlier and received its first environmental approval in October 1984. After multiple re-evaluations and delays, it was approved in summer 2017.

According to the administration, the first phase is funded by a $42 million loan and runs from the Lucinda Millin intersection to west of the Hospital Gade intersection at the Fort Christian parking lot. A second phase is to use $60 million in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding.

The project includes two additional lanes, a pedestrian promenade along the harbor with a sea wall, a sidewalk on the north side, traffic signals, storm drainage, landscaping and lighting. The Department of Public Works said the work is intended to ease traffic congestion and improve safety for motorists and pedestrians.

Government House described the effort as a public-private collaboration involving federal and territorial agencies, Downtown Revitalization Inc., the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce and the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands. Businessman Richard Driehaus provided financial support for planning work by Dover, Kohl & Partners, and the design team included WSP Global Inc. and the Jaredian Design Group.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/historic-u-s-virgin-islands-waterfront-project-underway/