Long Look/East End road has to be worst piece of road on the planet- Skelton-Cline
This is according to the host of the Honestly Speaking show, Mr Claude O. Skelton-Cline, who said children, parents, police officers and other users of the road have been crying out about the hazardous state of the road.
Mr Skelton-Cline said he could not understand what the challenge is, since the representatives of the districts happen to be Members of Cabinet. He said the Minister for Communications and Works, Hon Kye M. Rymer (R5) is also a Member of the Cabinet.
Hazard ‘needs immediate attention’
According to Mr Skelton-Cline, there have been reports of traffic accidents, since people are dodging holes and running into cars.
“The point is we can find some gravel somewhere. We can find some asphalt somewhere. I simply want to say out loud, particularly to the requisite authorities, that there is a hazard with the traffic on the roads in that Long Look/East End area that needs immediate attention,” Mr Skelton-Cline stated on his show on ZBVI 780 AM on September 27, 2022.
The commentator also said it is “unconscionable” that residents and guests are forced to traverse such a terrible piece of road.
He noted too that it’s unfortunate that school has reopened and children are having to walk those roads or be driven on those roads.
“So please my brothers in authority, as quickly as you can, it may not be a permanent fix, I don’t know if it is a matter of funding, but certainly I have confidence in yall, certainly you are able, even if it’s overnight, to begin to address the road situation in the Long Look/East End area,” Skelton-Cline pleaded.
Relief expected?
It was on September 30, 2022, that the public was advised that a portion of Blackburn Highway Road in the vicinity of Fat Hogs Bay and Long Swamp in East End, Tortola will be closed from Friday, September 30 to Tuesday, October 4, 2022, from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm daily to facilitate sewer and road reinstatement works.
It remains to be seen how much of an improvement to the state of the roads will be done.
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48 Responses to “Long Look/East End road has to be worst piece of road on the planet- Skelton-Cline”
That’s an exaggeration. He has no clue.
Unfortunately, it is true.
Incompetence,and lack of leadership is clear for all who are living, and walking and droved or regularly driving in these two district. The leaders of these two districts cannot, and certainly don't deserved to be re-elected. The next six months of patch work should not be accepted as good governance. No, no, no.
Moreover, I don’t know what the answers are to the above questions? However, I’m making a big assumption that designing, constructing, maintaining and repairing the less than a 150-lane miles of either asphalt ( flexible pavement) or concrete (rigid pavement) in the BVI is not technically challenging. Most of the roads in the BVI are asphalt and assuming the roads are properly designed with effective drainage, and constructed, the following is the typical life-cycle management for a theoretical 20-year life road. In the 7th year, a seal coat is applied. In the 15th year, an overlay is applied, ie, the surface course is milled. And in the 20th year, the road is reconstructed. In between this planned maintenance, crack sealing and pot holes repair and other repairs are performed as needed. It is important to note that the fix for a failed road is reconstruction. What is the cost to the taxpayers and motorists for poor road conditions?
High quality, functional road network is a quality of life, standard of living, and a growth and development issue. Poor roads shorten the design life, increases replacement cost, increases maintenance and repair cost, increases the potential for accidents, increases insurance costs, increases vehicle owners’ operating costs, increases citizens level of frustration and dissatisfaction with the quality and level of service, etc.
I’m going with poor design, construction, maintenance, and repair, and poor planning, organizational structure, and work management. It is time the Premier, Kye, Marlon, Fkax-Charles, Carvin, de Castro and Sheep to get outrage and ashamed about the horrible condition of the roads. The PS and the civil engineers at Public Works too should be ashamed.. Leonard, you make managing the road sound so routine. But in reality this cannot be so. If so the roads would not be in such a state. Get off y’all a$$*$ and do your damn wuk. Geez sum bred mon!
That said, generally a country/territory, county, parish, city, etc, will periodically conduct a pavement condition assessment of their road network(s) to plan and decide needed actions. Many may be familiar with the PCI (Pavement Condition Index). Public works or others can say if such a programme exist in the BVI. As noted in another post, the true fix for a road failure is complete reconstruction. However, complete reconstruction will take years.
Consequently, here are my suggestions for a temporary fix:
a. Develop a pot hole, and pavement maintenance and repair crews;
b. Establish a Pothole Strike Team (PST), and Strike Pavement Maintenance and Repair Team (SPMT);
c. Appropriate earmarked funding for PST, and SPMT;
d. Procure equipment, tools, machinery,and material for PST and SPMT (trucks, tampers, saws, picks, shovels, backhoe, cold mix, traffic control devices, etc), and provide training
e. Launch/re-launch the programmes and a public education and outreach programme;
f. Launch a work reception center (WRC);
g. Outsource pothole repair work to qualified contractors.
Pothole repairs are a simple process, requiring few tools, equipment and machinery. Here is a simplified process for repairing a single pothole:
a. Saw cut around the pothole perimeter approx 1’ beyond the distressed area;
b. Clean out all the debris from hole down to the subgrade
c. Place a tack coat on the side walls of the pothole;
d. Place the hot mix or cold mix in the hole.;
e. Compress mix with a hand or powered tamper.
Moreover, for a series of potholes in close proximity to each other, a ‘ skin patch’ can be used. With pothole patching, the roads will have a patch quilt appearance.
Fix the @$%^ roads
That is because East End is the a$$h**e of Tortola and has been for decades.
The roads are bad here because they were never properly designed and built. We used concrete (inflexible) rather than asphalt (flexible). Was the concrete ever tested as it was laid, was clean sand used instead of beach sand, what were the specs, were they enforced? Asphalt is a more workable material but requires more maintenance, never a strong point here. Was road drainage considered in road design and construction? Has there ever any engineering analysis and design regarding new roads? Was it ever factored in that there would be heavy vehicles (a fully loaded cement truck is equivalent to 1700 private vehicles in terms of road loading and potential for damage)? Roads here don’t get fixed because it is not a political priority, just like the rest of the infrastructure.
And clearly the tipper trucks and cement trucks rumbling about the island are over laden for our roadbeds.