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Salt Pond Ring Road Madness
Sometimes there can only be one explanation and I have to say that the planned Ring Road around the Salt Pond can only be called madness. It's an incredible waste of government money, will do nothing to relieve congestion and will raise the dangers of serious flooding all around the Salt and Fresh ponds.
I have no doubt I'll get Thoe's defenders commenting on this post, I predictmost if not all will say exactly what they always say, that Theo is being proactive, getting things done, dealing with problems and thinking big, or similar sycophantic and disingenuous statements without actually addressing my argument and the points I make. Let's see shall we?
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What causes congestion in Philipsburg?
a/ Poor planning which has left Philipsburg with stores and businesses with too little parking and with their parking spaces on the main roads, causing traffic to constantly stall and slow due to people backing in and out while shopping or doing business.
b/ Poor planning with too little parking and inefficient control. The new parking lots on the pondfill have not added parking to P'burg because the parking spots on both Front and Back Streets have been mostly lost. There was already some parking on the pondfill before those lots were made too, which sort of evens it all out. The other big parking lot people used is now the New Administration Building and was replaced with a smaller one further away.
c/ Lack of efficient public transport. Buses are irregular and mostly small and cramped, discouraging many from using them. Taxi's only want to work with tourists it seems, their rates are too high for locals to use them for short journeys and often the taxi drivers have no interest in short trips.
How to ease and reduce Congestion.
a/ & b/ - The poor planning in both building and parking can be fixed with a comprehensive plan that combines the solution to both. The key is parking, for employees and workers and for visitors and shoppers.
Two multistory parking garages need to be built. One where the current admin building and Clem Labega square is, the other behind the new admin building. They should be about 4 stories high with a capacity for about 250 cars each. They should be built by the government and put under a new Traffic Control Department, which would employ the staff and traffic inspectors/wardens to manage them and for town.
The carpark on the pondfill island would be for long term parking, 3 hours or more, mainly for employees and workers in town. The Traffic Deptarment could have a small bus doing a round trip from this garage around the courthouse and back from 7am till 7pm.
The one on the Wathey Square would be for short term parking, 3 hours or less, with increasing fines for extra time and bigger fines if left overnight. This Garage would open at 7am and close at 12pm, giving secure parking for nighttime visitors, part of reviving Philipsburg's night life.
Parking meters that take tokens would be installed at every suitable parking spot in town which would be clearly marked, the tokens would be available at several convenient locations from machines, 25c per 1/4 hour, maximum 3 hours stay. At the 2 pondfill car parks, ticket machines and barriers would be installed, stay time would be longer but charged by the hour $1.00.
The TDC would create at least 30 LONG TERM new jobs if not more. A team of wheelclampers would be on call for the controllers to call on instead of giving tickets and fines. People would be able to pay at the garages and have them removed within 30 minutes.
The fees from the garages, which would include long term monthly or yearly passes for business owners and staff, plus the fees from meters, ticket machines and wheelclamping would quite easily pay for the staff and loans needed to build the infrastructure.
c/ Public transport has been addressed multiple times on this site, with the general call being for mini cabs with meters to be licensed. Doing so would make cabs much more available for short journeys, for many who live not far from P'Burg and work there it may make sense to use them instead of driving. It would solve the gypsy cab problem with one stroke too.
A Public/Private Bus company would also make a big difference, with bus drivers being partners and employees. Larger buses and scheduled routes would make a huge difference to how people travel to P'Burg and around the island.
Both the Taxi and Bus drivers would not like this, there is presently no supervision on their income and they pay taxes based on trust. Do you think they pay what they should? With meters and bus tickets the government would be sure to get what it is due. Presently they both work for themselves when they want to, many pay a rent for use of the license. Is this income of license holders taxed?\
The whole public transport system, although it might have made sense 40 years ago, makes no sense no, none at all. Not for the people of the island, for the government or for the island's economy.
There are other more beneficial solutions to the congestion of Philipsburg than building a ring road at great expense which will not solve the problem. What is Theo expecting, that it will allow people to bypass P'burg and go from one end to the other without having to stop? The vast majority of traffic in town is there because they need to visit somewhere in town, not pass by or go to each end.
My solutions above will provide long term jobs and efficient and easy parking solutions which is the main problem we have. Further planning for stores along the pondfill could be fixed or improved with better planning, for example a sliplane with parking for stores which would require only a little widening in places. These spots would also have meters, but stores would be allocated weekly tokens for their customers. Sort of like this, similar side lanes would be suitable for sections of Simpson Bay too.
In addition to the financial madness of this project, because huge sums will be spent which will not solve the problem, there is also the issue of filling in more of the pond which will greatly reduce it's volume and ability to take in rainfall, resulting in a much higher risk of serious flooding. There will be no jobs created except in it's construction, which will most likely go to Windward Road and/or Mervat (Koop), most of who's employees are not from here.
The Great Salt Pond - National Geographic - January 1970
There is another reason too, and that's the heritage and environmental value of the pond and ecosystem. Yes, it's very polluted all over, the silt at the bottom of the pond no doubt holds many toxins, chemicals and heavy metals, but it still has life and it can still be restored to a much healthier state if the will to do so existed. By planting mangroves all around it like with the Fresh pond and by placing a few islands in it for nesting, it could be something truly special and a source of great national pride.
I am an idealist I know, our present government, politicians and govt departments can't even solve a simple thing like fixing the current ticket machine and barrier at the Clem Labega square, it didn't predict the dumb situation at the airport parking and it continues to give out permits for buildings that add to the traffic problems of the island. Even the so called beautified beatified streets are not finished, with cables and pipes sticking out and no streetlights yet. Yes, I know this is GEBE's job, but GEBE falls under government too doesn't it?
Recommended reading about the Great Salt Pond.
Eulogy to The Great Salt Pond by Tadzio Bervoets - 30th June 2005
The Great Salt Pond - RIP - 25th February 2007
Hady
PS - The photo from NG was found by a friend of mine in an old issue he had. Can you note how beautiful Great Bay looks with sea grass and the sand bar clearly visible? There is now about a foot or more of stinky and probably toxic mud covering most of the left hand side of the bay's floor. How heartbreaking it is to see how much we have lost and how nothing has been learned.
Ring Road project kicks into high gear - 10th February 2009
Birds at Great Salt Pond - A sight soon to be lost? - 11th February 2009
Can someone tell me why they continue to build more and more roads for more cars??? The only solution to stop congestion, traffic jams, polution and destroying the island is to limit the amount of cars per household. It should be limited for families (husband/wife, children) to 2 cars and single households 1 car. Some households have 3, 4 sometimes 5 cars! Preferably 1 car per household should be enough. People can carpool to work, nothing wrong with that! Furthermore with less cars on the road, a proper public transport network might just have a chance on really working! Imagine, less accidents, you can finally get from A to B like 20 years ago, without spending the whole day in traffic, you can find a place to park etc. Furthermore, it would help if there were proper bicycle roads where cyclists can ride on. Its good for your health, and you might just loose some weight and get some exercise instead of eating junk food!
Building more roads is totally unecessary! The island just can't hold the amount of cars anymore! This should be done in conjunction with the French Side and also limit the amount of car rentals. This policy has been implemented in Bermuda, check out the Bermuda Government Website for more information. And stop building more roads!!! Think of it people, there is a healthier alternative, one that everyone can benefit from!
The idea that any part of the population would consider riding their bike to get to wherer they have to go is a bit laughable.
a) The already warm weather would discourage most commuters, especially those working in offices, mainly because they would be arriving at work rather sweaty.
b) Arriving to work wet will also be a deterrent should it be raining.
c) Most places that support the use of bycicles are flat. Sint Maarten, with its abundance of steep inclines would be highly unsuitable for biking as a form of transport.
Ridiculous, so according to you the population is lazy and wimpy?
I see cyclists sometimes. Don't you?
I just don't see the right facilities yet. So I won't cycle on the main roads. I mountainbiked along the east coast though the other day...then swam in the 'dangerous' waters of Guana Bay and after that homeward. Perfectly possible and fun too.
To your other arguments: what do you think people in Europe do?
They have been cycling to work for ages in any weather (snow, rain, sunny, partly cloudy, fog). Requirements: special outfit and a shower at the job. Easy right and could save $$...
And then the 'mountainous landscape' of the island, come on, it would be the perfect solution to work on those muscles and get rid of the obesity problem.
Go watch the tour d'Italia or whatever other tour is on.
Hugh
By the bye, to Hady: somewhere in you blog you write 'Mervat' (Koop), it's MNO Vervat, which used to be known as Koop Tjuchem. Remember the scandal? They take care to cover up better now...
Oh yeah, the sidelane idea...brilliant, but how can you make sure that drivers will LOOK AND CHECK IF IT'S SAVE TO HIT THE GAS? My brakes are the sole reason for me being alive today (sorry:P).
Another thing, I've been diving into the history of this island and surprise, surprise, I've come across some interesting stuff. For example, in the midfifties, St Maarteners did most of their errands by bicycle! A Saban gentleman remarks: 'In St Maarten is seemed that everyone rode a bicycle.'
Good ol' times, eh?
Oh what prophetic words I find, here's a poem written by Mr. Hodge in 1961:
Why must machines and heartless men
Your scenic wealth so quick consume?
Oh, can't they spare the flowered glen
And tamper not where lilies bloom.
Why must their trucks and giant cranes
Your placid countryside destroy?
Pray, can't they save the winding lanes
Where oft I wondered as a boy?
Should I not join the cheering crowd
And drink to progress and its cash?
While grounding round me, brisk and loud,
The ugly tractors wreck and smash.
And while machines your innards grind,
I'll glare with unconcealed disgust,
At those who dared to be so unkind
To smite your crown into the dust.
Perhaps we dreamers, all too true,
Are doting fools of sentiment,
But all my joys, however few
Were from your sunny bosom lent.
Read this watching the sunset and I'll bet tears will be running down your cheeks.
You never get the tropics out of your blood once you absorb them.
Which explains a lot. This Ring Road is a huge waste of money, there are other solutions and this road will solve absolutely nothing, Theo is full of grand plans, sort of like Napoleon, another huge project and total waste of government money is his planned move of the Cargo Facilities to Cay Bay. He doesn't like it that cruise tourists have to look at an ugly cargo facility. What a crock of BS that argument is.
It seems that despite the growing concern of people, finally, to over development and over crowding of the island, this government and it's politicians are determined to squeeze every last drop out of it. At the same time killing the golden goose of tourism, because the reasons why St. Maarten has been so beloved by so many repeat visitors over the years are being eroded and destroyed. They are changing the whole character of the island, they envision high rises, highways and more and more growth, they are all right Jack because they got their millions and mansions on the hill, and elsewhere. Their family and friends will be alright too. But everyone else?
Really, anyone who relies on tourism, hotels, restaurants, stores, basically all of us, need to put their collective fingers out of their asses and start supporting causes, speaking up and getting involved, because if they ain't careful they will be left with jack.
Letter - Save St Maarten - 11th February 2009
Letter - The ruining of SXM - 6th February 2009
Theo does have big road plans and I think we can be pretty sure who will get the work and contracts, after all, there are only two that are capable right? Or so I hear. I still get a smile every time I go down the roads mentioned in his Omar Damage report, catching myself trying to figure out what exactly these very expensive damages were/are.
In regards to the light poles, a little birdy gave me a theory about why the cables are still sticking out all over the place. This is the responsibility of Brooks and GEBE, and the theory goes that he his holding up on the job because he is refusing to buy them at expensive (inflated?) prices with no bidding process, from a favored company. If this is true, then Brooks has taken another step to redemption, his first was supporting Fresh Market and the effort to get plastic bags banned. But it was just a theory, from a little bird, so give it as much credibility as you care to.
LH