DeCastro Street Sidewalk Improvement Project to start September 7
It was on Thursday, July 30, 2026, that the RDA, in partnership with the Government of the Virgin Islands, signed a $798,108.74 contract with TMB Enterprises for the Sidewalk Improvements to DeCastro Street in Road Town.
The RDA, TMB Enterprises and Government stakeholders recently came together for the official Kick-Off Meeting for the DeCastro Street Sidewalk Improvement Project.
According to the RDA, the meeting focused on the key elements needed to get works underway, including the project schedule, design, traffic management, site coordination and implementation.
"With the necessary plans and arrangements now being put in place, the project is set to officially commence on 7th September 2026. A safer, more accessible and improved DeCastro Street is one step closer," the RDA stated on its Facebook page on August 18, 2026.
The project will improve sidewalks
In an article by our news centre on July 26, Junior Minister for Culture and Tourism, Honourable Luce D. Hodge-Smith (R4), stated that “It’s a major project to be completed. It [the sidewalk] is unsafe. It’s unsafe for pedestrians,” Hon Hodge-Smith said, adding that she has received a lot of complaints about persons getting “tripped up” because of the unevenness of the sidewalk.
The Junior Minister stated that the aim of this project is to make sidewalks wheelchair accessible and up to ADA standards, and therefore, both sidewalks on DeCastro Street will be widened and made even.
The project is being delivered in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sustainable Development, with funding from the Government of the Virgin Islands as part of the Road Town Development Partnership.
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9 Responses to “DeCastro Street Sidewalk Improvement Project to start September 7”
Most every major town on the planet plants and conserves trees.
No where else in Tortola has sidewalks at all. Why so important to sacrifice trees for 2 sidwalks here.
Surely better to redesign and include the trees. Their are special grills that towns put around trees to allow growth and water to get to the roots. Why not here?
Why in the VI do we have to choose the worst option.
Is this backhanders to the contract giver again so that the needs of the community and the job are not considered just how much can I get out of it and which contractor will give the biggest cash incentive.
Is that all Tortola is now culturally. Everything revolving around criminality.
AND!!!!! Why is this the only sidewalk considered to have tripping hazards. At least we have a sidewalk. Start with areas that have no sidewalk at all, or a haphazard selection of curbs not curbs, holes and step overs.
This is the most ridiculous scheme when so many places do not have this at all. Let alone one with a few bumps.
What about the street behind Bolos that has been an abandoned dirt and donkey track for decades. No sidewalk, no walk walk. just Dirt and Gravel.
Please VI stop this!!!!
Find people with brains to make decisions!!!
AND, just in the nick of time for school reopening and everyone returning to work after the August break.
Contract done sign so no turning back now. It would be interesting to know which professional saw this and said yes, this area needs a total overhaul.
These trees are not obstacles. They are living infrastructure. They provide vital shade along the roadway, cooling the pavement and the people who walk it under the Caribbean sun. They soften the hard edges of urban life, add beauty, and prevent Road Town from sliding further toward the sterile look of a concrete jungle. In a place that markets itself on natural beauty and environmental stewardship, removing established greenery for wider sidewalks is shortsighted at best and hypocritical at worst.
What good is a Department of Sustainable Development and Climate Change if it stands by, or worse, enables the destruction of the very nature it is meant to protect? Sustainable development is not about pouring more concrete and calling it progress. It is about balancing human needs with the preservation of ecosystems that already serve us through shade, air quality, stormwater management, and mental well being. Special tree grates and root friendly designs exist precisely so towns can keep mature trees while improving pedestrian access. Other places use them. Why must the Virgin Islands choose the option that sacrifices what cannot easily be replaced?
This is not progress. This is the government allowing nature to be treated as disposable in the name of a nearly $800,000 sidewalk project. We can fix uneven surfaces and meet accessibility standards without removing the canopy that makes DeCastro Street livable and attractive.
It is time to act. Residents should petition the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sustainable Development and the Department of Sustainable Development and Climate Change immediately, demanding a redesign that retains the trees. We need a visible demonstration that is peaceful, firm, and united to send the clear message: leave nature alone. Redesign around the trees. Protect the shade. Preserve the character of Road Town.
The sidewalks can be improved. The trees must stay. Anything less is a betrayal of the sustainable future we claim to want.