BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – The integrity of a section of the Bay Road at Irishtown has been compromised, resultant of the inclement weather which the Federation experienced last evening.
Investigations conducted by SKNVibes revealed that the sidewalk and a portion of road which sits directly at the front of the Gardens Housing Project, crumbled after being consistently pounded by the raging waves.
Bus drivers and private vehicle drivers, who use the Bay Road daily as a main thoroughfare through which they access downtown Basseterre, were detoured earlier as they had some difficulty accessing the badly-damaged road.
Kevin Williams, Engineer with responsibility for Roads in the Department of Public Works, in an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, explained that earlier this morning, employees of that Department, visited the area and conducted a preliminary assessment of the area after which, the area was deemed “out of commission” for the time being.
He explained that according to the assessment, the road sustained visible damage but he also explained that although parts of the top layer of the road are intact, “there is lots of undermining and erosion beneath”.
“Right now we cannot do anything because the waves are still rough and they are pounding against the road. When the weather passes, we will conduct a full assessment and put plans in place to fix the road. However, we do not know how long this will be.”
Acting Head of the Traffic Department, Sergeant Amory, explained to SKNVibes that in order to ensure the safety of the motoring public, traffic has been re-routed to flow through the McKnight/Irishtown areas.
“Because of the rough seas, the wind going out of the south, you find that the rough seas caused the road at the Irishtown Bay Road area to collapse. As a result, we stopped the traffic from using that portion of the Irishtown Bay Road. Traffic coming from Basseterre and traveling westwards, would have to turn right into Lower Shaw Avenue and traffic traveling east along the Bay Road would have to turn left into the McKnight area.”
Both men have indicated that, because of the unpredictability of the weather, it is difficult to determine when the road would be reopened. The public, however, is asked to adhere to the instruction of the Traffic Department and the Department of Public Works to ensure that public safety is maintained.
