After 30-odd years, the long awaited (by a few vocal locals) Christiansted by-pass is becoming a reality. I saw the scar on the hillside for the first time today as I was driving home from work. My heart sunk.

I actually started writing this months ago. It’s really hitting home now as the scar begins to show itself just a few yards west of the Canegata ballpark, across from Gallows Bay. It is strange, the earth moving goes up the hill. A very steep hill. We wonder if the road will start on the steep incline (where large trucks will supposedly haul something), or if they will dynamite the hill to create a passage.

The beautiful, majestic hills behind Christiansted town will soon be violated by big machines. We will no longer be able to gaze in awe at the unspoiled green slopes. From now on, there will be wounds that may never heal.

Many years ago, there was no”container port” in the industrial section of the south shore. All things shipped to our island came into Gallows Bay, east of Christiansted town. Big trucks were forced to travel through our lovely historic town to carry cargo to distribution points elsewhere.  We now have a container port on the industrialized section of the south shore. There is no longer a need for this project except in the minds of those who do not think outside the box. A more economically feasible and environmentally sensitive solution would be to pave “Spring Gut Road”. The connection between the south shore and Gallows Bay has been there for years.

Our government cannot even properly maintain the roads that are already here. The infrastructure doesn’t work. The sewers overflow in town when it rains. There will be more runoff from this new road further overwhelming the system. Just another travesty.

But, as usual, in this “Banana Republic”-type government, favors have been promised to contractors and they will get their money despite the fact that an abomination will take place. We have protested to no avail.

We now mourn the rape of the hillside over our beautiful Christiansted and the deaths of the inhabitants in town and the creatures of the harbor who will be affected.

Tags: St. Croix

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 8:08 am and is filed under St. Croix. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.