Cars, trucks and taxis go up this St. Thomas road constantly. But serious concerns are being raised about the roads ability to hold those vehicles and the damage it is doing to the cars.
“If the road was in better condition it will make our job much easier and it will also take less of a toll on our cars,” Kenroy Hendrickson, a St. Thomas taxi driver said Tuesday.
Kenroy Hendrickson is one of the several taxi drivers that makes this trek at least five times a day from town to Northside taking tourists over to Magens Bay. The road leads from Charlotte Amaile, going up towards Mafolie Restaurant, some call it Mafolie Hill. Hendrickson hopes that some attention is paid to the busy hill.
“I think the government has their hands trapped you know they were hit very hard with two category five storms so we don’t expect everything will be fixed right away. But certain things should take priority like the roads which our residents as well as our visitors have to traverse on a daily basis.”
Just after the storms a road in Catherinberg fell apart. That’s exactly what business owners tell me they’re concerned will happen to Mafolie Hill, which is just down the road.
John Pittman, resident manager at Green Iguana Hotel looks out Mafolie Hill everyday. He said he can’t imagine closing even one lane of it.
“Tough, tough tough to get people back and forth, if that piece of road was to collapse, according to the pictures I saw,” John Pittman, Resident Manager, Green Iguana Hotel said Tuesday.
Pittman cautions local leadership to take care of the problem before it becomes another Catherinberg project. He fears that happening is closer than people think, hitting just in time for tourist season.
“We try to get them here, get them out, get them in, get them out. Satisfy their needs as quickly as possible and make a happy experience for them.”
In the meantime, traffic continues steady up Mafolie Hill.
By the time of broadcast CBS USVI News did not hear back from VI DPW for our request for an interview.
Meyer will continue to follow this story for updates.
