Mirror, mirror on the road,
During Georges down you blow'd.
Public Works, we've cut you slack.
It's time to put our mirrors back!
Lots of St. Thomas residents are screaming about potholes. And with good reason. Our roads are so rutted and pitted that they threaten our safety and our vehicles' structural soundness.
But we have another road-safety problem that no one has talked much about: the Public Works Department's failure to restore mirrors and road signs after Hurricane Georges.
The area around Mafolie Hotel offers a good — though decidedly not the only — example.
Before Georges, drivers turning south onto Mafolie Road from the road in front of the hotel had the benefit at that treacherous intersection of utilizing a round mirror that reflected hidden traffic coming up the hill. No more. Hurricane Georges blew it down.
That was more than three months ago. Surely it shouldn't take three months to replace roadside mirrors, stop signs and other safety devices that motorists depend on.
Please, Public Works. This is routine stuff — the nuts and bolts of your mission. We hope it won't take a devastating accident to spur you to action.