$3M to repair road between Slaney and Duff’s Bottom
The cost to repair an area of the road between Slaney and Duffs Bottom on Tortola has been estimated at three million United States dollars.
Acting Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Transportation Haley Trott gave that indication during the recently-held Standing Finance Committee process while responding to questions from Representative of the Third District where Slaney Hill and Duffs Bottom are located, Julian Fraser.
Trott said the project is estimated to cost as much as it does because the works to fix the road will include drainage and sea defence development.
She further said no start date has been established for the project but indicated that “the potholes on the road can be fixed”.
As for where the funding will come from to undertake the $3 million project, the Deputy Secretary said the monies have been allocated under the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) $65 million rehabilitation loan to the BVI.
In the meantime, Premier and Minister of Finance Andrew Fahie has said: “There was such a rush to receive the CDB loan funding that hardly any of its projects were properly costed and all of which are going to require additional funding”.
The Premier further said that government is “now in negotiations with the CDB to have the projects properly cost. He noted that there is a similar situation with the RDA projects”.
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Please fix east end road too
when will govt ever fix brandywine bay to east end.for all these millions spending here on roads by now it suppose to be streets of gold.no value for money
I think the area between Rockwood pond and towers is worse and needs attention. That area needs sea defence and slope protection works to be done
Really, it have far more worse areas, especially in TOWN, than Slaney to Duff Bottom. Like where ayo brains at….
That’s cray….$3 million dollars can do more road that… it’s time we get proper engineer and give the contract to complete the roads from beef island to west end. BVI always have these budget in US dollars and have the worst roads in the Caribbean. EC$$$ countries have better roads…..
I was thinking the same thing will the works be done by PWD or private.
The road network will continue to fail prematurely if it is not properly designed, constructed and maintained. Specifically, poor drainage contribute to premature road failure. Further, the roads are multi-use, ie,cars, trucks, construction equipment, buses…..etc and the road cross section should be designed for the heaviest wheel load that is going to used it. Is there a road classification system, is, local, collector,, arterial, freeway….etc.
Another factor in premature road failure is poor subgrade, subbase, base…..etc prep. In developed countries, roads are designed for 10-20 life cycles. Developing, emerging countries may not approach that lifecycle but they should get more than 1-3 years. These short lifecycles drive up the replacement cost, operational cost, vehicle owners operating cost, motorists inconveniences, frustrations..accidents……etc.
Couldn’t be put better
Those people over there in public works, those engineers believe they know best. If you bring specialist into that department with sense its gonna cause problems,because they don’t want to look like fools?…. I keep looking at those drains in the road that are now man made pot holes.. When are they gonna fix those???… Do you see that in other developed countries??… The money just gonna go into someone pocket and it will be the same shhhty roads that will need repairing in a few years.
@E. Leonard, real talk and on target and no disagreement at all. Good stuff.
How can we fix it? The problems are identified. Why isn’t it fixed?
@LCS, indeed the problems have been identified and why the BVI does not have a higher quality, functional and longer lasting road network is due to poor planning, less than stellar leadership and management and priority. However, the biggest problem is us. Virgin Islanders are big at complaining but not effective at holding government accountable. Political patronage may have something to do with. If we want better roads, we need to get off our asses and peacefully agitate to get better roads. Let’s hold government feet to the fire.
The issue is flat out CARELESSNESS. The road can be fixed today and in two weeks, Water & Sewage digs it up and where there was once concrete/asphalt, they put dirt and so it continues. We can talk until our mouths run dry, this place is a f***ing banana republic where nobody is held responsible for anything. It’s not that we can’t do it right, it’s that nobody gives a f*** because if we do it right the money would be spent once, not 100 times to enrich party supporters and keep politicians powerful by hanging contracts over people’s heads.
Public Works Department /MTUW planning and coordinating major road work projects with utilities(water, sewage, telecommunications, electricity, drainage) can significantly reduce the number of non-emergency road cuts. Cutting into roads weakened and shortened the life of the road, especially with poorly effected repairs. Repairs should extend beyond the boundaries of the cut.
Though it may sound bureaucratic, the MTUW should establish a road cut policy. As a minimum, entities needing to cut into a road should be required to request a permit and as part of the permit process, MTUW personnel should inspect the cut(s) for conformance with road cut policy. The policy should include provisions for emergency cuts. Another benefit to reducing road cuts is reducing motorists inconveniences. There is value in doing things right the first time. The BVI does not have to reinvent the process for attaining highly quslity, functional roads at a lower; there are a number of entities that can be benchmarked. The hilly terrain can be a challenge but the challenge is not insurmountable.
It makes no sense fixing the roads properly unless the proper infrastructures underground are in place.
Senor E. Leonard, notice you put a laser focus on the road design, construction and maintenance process. No dispute with the opinion offered on the road process. However, curious as to why no opinion on the proposed cost on the $3.0M project between Slaney and Duff’s Bottom in regards to fairness and reasonableness. Care to offer an opinion?
@El ingeneiro, in regards to your request for an opinion on the cost fairness and reasonableness about the $3.0M to repair the stretch of road from Slaney to Duff’s Bottom, response follows. The cost to construct/repair/rehab a lane mile of road depends on a variety of factors, including design characteristics, topography, location, terrain, population density, surface durability, type of construction(concrete, asphalt), number of lanes and lane width, market …….etc. However, I’m not in a position to offer a credible opinion on the cost.
Though it may appear that the cost may be pricey, one will have to see the details that were used to determine the cost. The folks on the ground at the 30’ level are in better position to ascertain if the estimated cost is fair and reasonable. The owner/government have review personnel to review design, cost, constructability, maintainability……etc.
Fix the damn road in fish bay
I been living here in the BVI for over 25 years and ever year the government build roads over and over again,
$3 million for what that lil stretch come on…Start looking for outside contractors to fix the whole island…get value for your money..Trinidad Japan China..
My God. Our beautiful Virgin Islands gone to hell. How many times loans for millions of dollars to repair roads, and the money gone but roads are left in disrepair. What a shame.
Get a guarantee so the road does not get pot holes after a few days rain, sick of these half as* work on roads that cost a lot but dont last more than a few months.
Couldn’t be put better
So, can we see a breakdown of these costs since it’s a public works? Breakdown by task, equipment leade costs, labor and materials, two with unit rates (i.e. schedule of values. Could we also see the proposed time table? I won’t hold my breath as I doubt these items exist. More like “how much it cost to do da paving job?” “About 3 mill”
3 million for a 1/2 inch of asphalt ( before rolling) no binder coat , that will be washed away after a few heavy rains.
The Engineering Firm that carried out the study and cost analysis was contracted by the CDB and approved by the previous government. The scope of the work entails but not limited to areas most prone to flooding and coastal erosion. That segment of the road is just one part of the overall plan. For example the section from the top of Jean Hill to the corner beyond CTL is estimated to cost 9 million. Not PWD this time. Other figures and other segment will be release soon. The total cost will be in the range of 65 to 80 million.
We need to stop repair and deal with the roads correct. We keep on putting on bandaid a little rain and the roads are worst then before.
I would like to see the roads fixed starting from the beginning of the island to the end of the island. I am advocating especially for patients who have to be transported to and from beef island area with severe pain. Please fix these roads soon thank you
Sadly, its clear for all to see that BVIslanders are not interested in corrective engineering for proper road structure.
You see, there are many that profit from these types of engineering “distresses”!
We all know who you are; those of you who parade around Road Town with your thousand dollar “wigs”, and your fancily painted cars, and expensive Louis Vuitton bags.
Yes, you,and you,and you, who parade on all forms of social mediums showing off your material excesses. Profitting from the “distresses” of engineering failures!
And not one official that is interested in STOPPING THE MADNESS!!
Sigh..
How far is Slaney to Duff Bottom – about a mile? Is the cost of $3,000,000 per mile flat single lane road surface reasonable and standard?