The developers of the multi-billion-dollar Baha Mar project handed the newly realigned West Bay Street over to government officials yesterday, marking a historic shift in the way people travel along the western portion of New Providence.
The 1.25-mile stretch of road will divert traffic south of Baha Mar as it now looks to begin the second phase of the mega-resort.
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham congratulated Bahamian workers and Baha Mar on the accomplishment at the handover ceremony yesterday.
"I am especially proud of the first class workmanship demonstrated by those Bahamian companies already engaged in the construction of ancillary facilties for the project and in particular in the construction and landscape of this new road and the new Commercial Village," said Ingraham.
"They have produced first world work and they have completed their contracted projects on time. Their success, I believe, bodes well for the success of Bahamian companies bidding on components of the core project."
Along with gardens, wide sidewalks and walking and jogging paths, the road also provides breathtaking views of the Hobby Horse Hall Pond and the surrounding wetlands, which many Bahamians have never seen.
Along the road, the broken shards of more than 140,000 conch shells decorate the five roundabouts that connect the four-lane thoroughfare.
Minister of Works Neko Grant said the street markings and lighting on the road are temporary, but permanent fixtures should be installed by the middle of January next year.
The road and the new Commercial Village where a police and fire station, Scotiabank, Commonwealth Bank and Fidelity Bank will now be located took 600 workers just over nine months to complete.
Baha Mar officials estimate that the company spent in excess of $100 million constructing the new corridor and buildings.
Baha Mar officials are also spending $500,000 on a temporary Pompey Village near the Sheraton Resort, to accommodate a straw market, daiquiri stand and several kiosks.
The new West Bay Street is being connected to John F. Kennedy Drive by a new road that will run from the intersection of JFK and Gladstone Road to the area of the former site of the Cable Beach police station.
Thanking Baha Mar Chairman and CEO Sarkis Izmirlian and his family, as well as the China Import Export Bank and the China State Construction Company, the prime minister also expressed his pleasure with the efficient and quick manner in which the road was built.
"In the great enterprise of transforming our capital island we are building on and securing the dreams of many Bahamians.
"This new realigned West Bay Street has provided opportunities for the use of ideas and talents of capable Bahamian technicians and artists, environmentalists and planners and construction professionals," Ingraham said.
"We look forward to more of this in the months and years ahead as the full Baha Mar story is unveiled."
The existing portion of West Bay Street -- from west of Sulgrave Manor and Breezes Resort to the roundabout in front of the Sheraton Resort -- will now be conveyed to Baha Mar by the government for the construction of its 1,000 room casino hotel, 700 room convention hotel, 100,000 square foot casino and 150,000 square foot convention center and related amenities.

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