The western portion of the Irishtown Bay Road was closed to vehicular traffic in early October 2010 after a portion of the road and sidewalk was destroyed by the sea’s pounding waves. This was owing to a period of inclement weather which affected not only St. Kitts and Nevis but other Caribbean countries.
As a result of the damage, traffic which normally flowed along that road has to be rerouted so as to allow the Public Works Department (PWD) to begin reconstructing the road.
Sergeant Calvin Amory of the Traffic Department had indicated that in addition to allowing the Public Works Department to perform its duties, the closure of the road was necessary to ensure the safety of the motoring public.
Chief Engineer with responsibility for Public Works’ Roads Department, Kevin Williams, spoke exclusively with MiyVue.com and explained that the two-part reconstruction process began on 22nd October 2010. The first part, he explained, was the construction of a sea defence which took the form of a rock revetment. He informed that as part of this process, stones of a specified weight are stacked on each other along the side of the road.
The second phase, Williams told MiyVue.com, is the renovation of the road itself, which includes finishing touches to the road and sidewalk. These, he said, will be completed sometime this week.
He explained that during last week, however, although the construction on the road was still taking place, the road was open to the motoring public outside of working hours.
Sergeant Amory, through MiyVue.com is issuing a call to motorists to note that that area of the Bay Road is “still under construction” and although it is open to the motoring public, all are “asked to continue driving with caution especially when using that portion of road”.