The North Coast Road has been spoken of over the last ten years as an alternative route to the Barre D’Isle. Yet the conversation has never been supported by any sound economic or engineering basis for its pursuance. Are the merits of this road a myth? Over the last 25 years I have been involved in the development of infrastructure in St. Lucia in the capacity of Chief Engineer on the side of the Employer, as a Contractor for local firms, however never been blessed to be part of the chosen few to do consultancy work for the Ministry. My involvement in the development of the Millennium Highway was a valuable lesson in understanding the interface of infrastructure and economic development.
In 1992, there was a thrust by Sir John to link Castries with Cul deSac, Sir John rightfully believed that the Morne Road was an obstacle to the development of Castries and that there was need to link Cul de Sac and Castries with a tunnel. He had by then persuaded Hess Oil to provide a grant for the development of a Pre-Feasibility study on a tunnel road to Cul de Sac. At that time the project was in the Ministry of Physical Planning. Out of interest I asked for a copy of the Report and began to peruse its contents. I then began to read up on tunnels, in those days there was no internet, however by sheer coincidence one of the magazines that the Ministry subscribed carried an article on Tunnels.
The article spoke of the cost of maintenance of tunnels and the average cost per meter. When I placed the figures from the article into the proposed parameters of the tunnel design, it was showing that the maintenance cost of the tunnel was equivalent to our present recurrent budget. There was no way that St. Lucia could have afforded to build this project and certainly could not maintain it. The Hess funded report had suggested that alternative overland routes should be considered. With this reasoning I did a Report on an overland coastal road from Cul de Sac to Tapion, and from there the conversation started to begin to look at the overland route in lieu of the tunnel. The rest is history for another time.
It proved to be the correct decision as this road has paid back for itself in savings in vehicle operating cost and development opportunities that have occurred along the route. It is in my mind one of the most important infrastructure investments in St. Lucia in the transportation sector.
I have deliberately given the history of the Millennium Highway to convey an important truth. A politician will see the importance of a project, but the technical personnel within the Government have a responsibility to shape that project to ensure that the objective is achieved within the parameters of sound economic and engineering analysis.
When the topic of a 4 lane East Coast came up in 1996-97, the technical staff of the Ministry had a responsibility to say this is not feasible at this stage. When the conversation of widening Gros Islet Highway to 4 lanes started in 2001, the technical staff had a responsibility to say that is not feasible at this stage. And lastly when the conversation of constructing a North Coast road is mentioned in 2014, the technical staff has a responsibility to point out the issues.
The arguments for the construction of the North Coast road have been presented firstly as an alternative route to the Barre D’Isle. The first question that needs to be answered is whether the geology in that general area is such that the risk for landslides is considerably reduced. Then we are told that it will cut down the travel time to Castries, you are building a road that takes you up to Debarrah, winding up to Monchy then to Rodney Bay to join back the Gros Islet Highway to enter Castries. No feasibility study is required to determine the savings in travel time. The last argument is that it will open new lands for development.
In 1970’s work started on the widening of the East Coast Road and the expansion of the Gros Islet Highway. Almost 40 years on, the East Coast Road has not been able to generate significant economic activity along the route. By 1995, the West Coast Road was completed, almost 20 yrs on there has been very little development along this route. In 1995, the Beausejour Road was completed, in 20 yrs this area has rapidly expanded with a University, a stadium, significant housing developments. A road alone does not attract development; you need telecommunications, electricity and most importantly water. Both the East Coast and West Coast roads have been affected by the lack of development of our water infrastructure.
My advice to the Government is to place the scare resources of the state in areas of maximum return. The fixing of the Cas en Bas Road will create more economic activity than the North Coast Road at this stage. Investments in the water infrastructure along the West Coast and East Coast will unlock tremendous economic activity. Place your focus on unlocking the existing infrastructure before you start adding new.