Reader William P. on St. Croix asks: “What is the status of the Christiansted bypass?"

Blasting, digging and grading are done, sidewalks, conduits and railings are in place, paving should go to bid this summer and cars should start driving it "in about a year," Public Works Highway Program Manager Wystan Benjamin told the Source last week.

Construction on the bypass began in mid 2007 after decades in the planning and wishing stage.
While there have been surprises and delays along the way, including a rock slide in 2008, the project as a whole has not been substantially delayed from initial estimates. But being on schedule is scant comfort for Christiansted residents who have been living with the noise and dust of a major road project for more than four years.

Plans for the bypass called for the project to be done in three separate phases, with three separate, consecutive contracts. That was later changed to four phases, splitting up the fill hauling contract from the contract for pre-staging the road’s infrastructure, Benjamin said. The first two phases – cutting the road bed and putting in retaining walls, drainage and large scale infrastructure – are complete. The third phase; putting in sidewalks, electrical conduits, guardrails, handrails and such, and connecting the bypass to the existing roads, is being completed now, he said.

The entire project is federally funded, he said.

Six months ago, this writer estimated the bypass would not be behind schedule if complete in six months, or by the present day, more or less. That estimate was based in part on Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls saying during a discussion on road damage last November that phase three would probably be wrapping up in six months. The writer incorrectly construed that statement to mean the road would be open for traffic, rather than the next phase would begin.

In 2007, when the project began, Smalls testified to the V.I. Legislature: “The first phase is to be complete in 2009. Then it will be another two years at least for the remainder." Judged by that timeline, the bypass is on schedule.