NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (January 24, 2020) — Rehabilitation work will commence on Lower Happy Hill Drive on January 26, 2020, as part of the Ministry of Communications and Works’ Road Rehabilitation Project. The 208 feet of roadway spans from the Island Main Road intersection heading westwards to the Charlestown waterfront.

Hon. Spencer Brand, Minister responsible for Public Works, and Area Representative for the St. Paul’s Parish during a site visit on January 24, 2020, noted that it was his vision to see all the roads in Charlestown rehabilitated.

It is indeed my vision and my dream to see the roads in the area of Charlestown completely rehabilitated.

“As you would recall we would have done a small section of road in the Chapel Street area where we would have rehabilitated that section of road and now we are here in the area of the market and in the area of the brand new spanking treasury building to have this area rehabilitated as well,” he said.

The Minister used the opportunity to appeal to members of the public to be patient as the Nevis Island Administration seeks to enhance the area.

“Over the next few days, between today, Friday, and next week Wednesday, there will be some activity here conducted by the Public Works Department (PWD) to have this area milled and resurfaced and I want to appeal to the general public to be patient with us.

“I want to ask you for your cooperation as we seek to have this done in a very short period of time for the enhancement of this area,” he said.

Meantime, Mr. Raoul Pemberton, Director of the PWD, who was present at the site visit spoke to the scope of the project.

“The main objective of the works we are undertaking is rehabilitate the carriage way, that’s the surface of the road, but as part of our evaluation, we realised that some drainage upgrade is absolutely necessary. So we are going to first take care of the drainage issue or just enhance the current drainage and then we are going to remove the old asphalt and do some resurfacing.

“It’s a pretty simple process but it’s going to take a few days because it’s a bit detailed in terms of what exactly we have to do just to ensure that we give a good product. So we are looking between today, Friday, and Wednesday to have the works completed,” he said.

Regarding the disruptions as a result of the project, The PWD Director indicated that there would be some inconvenience for both pedestrians and the motoring public.

“We have a traffic management plan and there’s going to be diversions. Basically we would identify the routes the motorists would need to take and we are asking for the general public to abide by those new changes we are going to have just for the next four days.

“So it’s going to be a bit of noise, a bit of dust and a bit of disruption in the flow of traffic, so we are asking the public to bear with us while we undertake this important part of our road upgrade progress,” he said.

However, Mr. Pemberton stated that they are working to ensure minimal disruption for bus drivers plying the Newcastle route.

“The DR Walwyn Plaza, that’s the area where the buses usually collect their passengers to head to the Newcastle direction. There’s going to be minimal disruption with the bus drivers. We are hoping to do some work on Sunday and during that time we don’t expect anybody to be around that area so the disruption there would be quite minimal.

“During the week, that is Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we would have some discussions with the bus operators. We have had some initial discussion with the bus operators and Traffic [Department] but we are going to give them the exact details from Monday to Wednesday what exactly we are going to do and how they would be accommodated,” he said.

Also present was Dr. Ernie Stapleton, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communication and Works.