April 8, 2003 – After decades of planning, construction of the Enighed Pond commercial port in Cruz Bay is under way. The contractor started work on April 1, and the Port Authority has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for April 25.
St. John Administrator Julien Harley said on Tuesday that he is glad finally to see the project begin. "We've been talking about it for so long," he said.
Planning began back in 1971. In 1985, the Port Authority anticipated it would cost about $4 million. In 1985, then-Port Authority director John Harding said at a public meeting that the VIPA expected to start construction by the end of that year. However, numerous obstacles stood in the way.
A wrangle over ownership of the land by the V.I. government and the Port Authority was decided by the Legislature in favor of VIPA. Once that was resolved, the authority secured the required Coastal Zone Management permit, which would be extended multiple times over the years. VIPA then had to get a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit, which took several years. That permit is valid through Nov. 3, 2004.
The Enighed Pond project is expected to reduce congestion in Cruz Bay, particularly in the Creek area. Currently, all cargo, as well as all barges transporting vehicles from St. Thomas, comes in through the Creek. When the commercial port is complete, all cargo activities will shift to Enighed Pond.
The groundbreaking is set for 10 a.m. April 25, Monifa Marrero, Port Authority public information officer, said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Public Works Department is making plans to ease an anticipated increase in traffic at the Texaco service station intersection in Cruz Bay. Traffic from the Enighed Pond cargo port area will be entering that already busy intersection. Public Works officials announced at a meeting last Wednesday on St. John that they expect to have a roundabout in place at the intersection by early 2004. (See "Roundabout coming, gas station going".)
The gas station will be razed to make way for the roundabout. The project also will take a bit off the adjacent front of the Clarice Thomas Annex of Julius E. Sprauve School and force the relocation of the stairs on the Boulon Center complex.

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