Over the four-odd years since leaders decided to increase the scope of the cruise pier expansion to include a pier park, government officials and other stakeholders have spent many hours discussing what the landside development would entail.
But that is exactly what the Public Works Department is building now: A 36-foot wide, $325,000 road designed to ease traffic congestion will extend from the pier park, run south of the Central Administration Building and Maria’s by the Sea, and connect to Waterfront Drive by the Crafts Alive Village.
Work got under way before the Planning Authority granted approval, which makes the project at least the second government development in as many months to start without permission.
Moreover, once the Ministry of Communications and Works did apply for permission, the application was fast-tracked by the Planning Authority, which received and approved the plans on Nov. 30, according to documents received by the Beacon.
On the night of Nov. 26, this reporter observed heavy machinery at the road site, and on Nov. 30 a construction worker there said a four-lane road was under construction.
The Beacon requested planning documents for the project from the Town and Country Planning Department on Dec. 1, and received them the next day. Those documents state that the ministry applied for permission for the project on Nov. 30 and received approval the same day.
On Friday Chief Planner Gregory Adams said he had been “surprised” when his staff informed him about the ministry’s intention to undertake the development.
He explained that the road project was outside of the scope of plans originally submitted for the cruise pier expansion and accompanying landside development.
Moreover, an environmental impact assessment conducted on the marine portion of the pier project states that the reclaimed land in question would be used for additional parking.
Mr. Adams said that he didn’t know when construction began on the roadwork, but that once he found out about the plans he informed the ministry that the project needed permission to proceed.
On Monday, this reporter asked MCW Information Officer Nekita Turnbull when construction started, and she replied that it had commenced at least two weeks prior.
On Nov. 23, she explained, she notified workers at the CAB not to be alarmed if they felt vibrations coming through the building, because the tremors were due to workers levelling the ground in preparation for building the road.
Officials at the MCW and the PWD have not answered questions seeking clarification as to why the project started without public input or planning approval.
The management team of Maria’s by the Sea has been tight-lipped about the project, too.
Hotel owner Maria Dawson did not respond to a phone call seeking comment on the project, which will soon separate the hotel from the sea.
Maria’s by the Sea manager Lorna Christopher said she was told by government that the project would take place, but she declined to comment further.
Nearby, several Crafts Alive vendors told this reporter yesterday that they weren’t aware of the road project, and that they thought the construction occurring was for a boardwalk.
However, both Mr. Adams and Ms. Turnbull said the project is necessary to ease the traffic congestion that otherwise would have taken place on Admin Drive due to the influx of thousands of tourists added to the hundreds of government workers who travel there daily.
The Planning Authority, Mr. Adams explained, “knew it was needed.”
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