PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina said the government is seriously considering opening new road connections, including from Weymouth Hill to Dutch Quarter and from St. Peters over Marigot Hill to the French side, as part of efforts to ease traffic congestion.
“We also discussed yesterday [Tuesday] in the Council of Ministers that we are going to seriously look into these two options: Weymouth Hill to Dutch Quarter and St. Peters through Marigot Hill to the French side,” the Prime Minister said Wednesday.
The side road from Cay Hill to Cole Bay could be improved as a second collateral route to help relieve traffic. The statement was made during the Council of Ministers press briefing. Other measures under consideration include introducing traffic looping by converting certain two-way roads into one-way flows to improve circulation, reorganising public transportation and bus stops to prevent buses from stopping in the middle of the road. “What we are seeing now is that bus drivers are just stopping on the road, causing more congestion in traffic, and they do it in a way like it is their right to just stop in the middle of the road to let people get in the bus and get out. I think these are mindset changes that have to take place if we all want to contribute to a solution to the traffic in St. Maarten,” he said.
He also spoke about the trend of car imports, as the island currently has roughly one vehicle for every two residents. “We can also talk about car imports. Are we going to continue with this philosophy of importing cars for St. Maarten? As I said, we now have one car for every two persons living in this country. Are we now going to go to one car for each person because we are now at one car for two persons?” he said.
The government is also looking at deploying police officers or VKS personnel at major bottleneck points to better manage traffic flow. In addition, Mercelina also asked whether widening and raising the Simpson Bay Bridge could reduce congestion linked to frequent bridge openings (see related story).
He added that the Ministry of TEATT is busy with a capacity study. He also warned that continued development will place growing pressure on the country’s infrastructure if traffic challenges are not addressed.
These proposed solutions come as the island continues to face tourism-related development, such as new hotels, condos, Airbnbs and high cruise arrivals and airport tourism. He pointed out that large-scale projects can significantly increase the number of vehicles on the road network, noting that a 500-room hotel could add around 250 rental cars. “We want all of that, but we do not want the traffic that comes with it.”
