A nearly mile-long construction project is moving along quickly… You’ve likely driven along Veterans Drive and seen the work progress daily.
In an exclusive report, USVI News goes inside the construction site to find out just how the multi-million dollar project is coming along.
And it’s coming along very quickly, in fact, it’s ahead of schedule.
The goal of the $42.9 Million project is twofold, to widen the roadway for traffic and also create a beautiful space for people to walk along the waterfront.
“The progress we’re making is making is outstanding, the work being done by American Bridge and the subcontractor Grade All Heavy Equipment, Inc. is just impeccable,” said Nelson Petty Jr., Commissioner of the Department of Public Works.
Phase
one of the Veterans drive improvement enhancement is exceeding
expectations.
Crews broke ground in the spring of 2018 on
the 3-year project, and Project Manager Justin Berglund, with
American Bridge Company, says the road work portion is almost done,
“It’s great, it’s coming along good, we’re in the final
stages of phase one, the seawall was competed last December and
roadway construction is about 90 percent complete.”
In just about two months, traffic will start flowing on the new road, while crews switch to work on the other side of the roadway.
All while the hardscaping work like the large sidewalks, steps, bricks, landscaping and light poles, is about halfway done, “We’re not just trying to build roads to relieve traffic, we’re trying to make sure that pedestrians are involved and everybody has a stake and is involved in the process so new infrastructure is a benefit to the entire community,” said Petty.
Traffic will bottleneck between the legislature building and the fort, so phase two of the project will address that congestion, building a road around the legislature building, “After this we’re going to go around the legislature and hit the waterfront and that’s the next phase and that project is estimated at over $100 Million dollars,” Petty said. Design work on phase two is expected to be completed when phase one wraps up this time next year, construction work will begin shortly thereafter.
So, barring any unforeseen circumstances, your patience will pay off, and you can expect to see a whole new look completed by next summer, “There have been some challenges we’ve had to overcome, but we’re pleased with the progress. Major projects like this take time, but they’re going to be worth it in the end,” said Berglund.
