The recent contract signing for roadworks to be conducted in north and south Bimini was a further indication of the importance the Davis Administration has placed on the remainder of The Bahamas undergoing the requisite infrastructural upgrades as in the capital.
 
Senior government officials from the Ministry of Works and Family Island Affairs, signed a $2,819,713 Roadworks Contract (Friday, November 17, 2023) for north and south Bimini, that will include Buccaneers Subdivision.  Knowles Construction and Development Company Ltd. are the contractors.
 
Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs, the Hon. Clay Sweeting, said the Bimini roadworks are a result of: “Focused and advanced planning.”
 
“In December of 2022, Knowles Construction and Development Company Ltd., completed the runway at South Bimini airport. Upon completion of the project, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Philip E. Davis, K.C., implored Mr. Emile Knowles to leave his asphalt plant in Bimini in anticipation of the execution of these roadworks.
 
“That was focused and advanced planning,” Mr. Sweeting said.
 
Mr. Sweeting said the Administration further understands the important roles the Family Islands play as “highly sought after travel destinations.”
 
“Our islands are highly sought after travel destinations and we must ensure that not only the visitors to our shores, both domestic and international, are comfortable on our islands, but that the residents living in each and every island have a home that is conducive to proper infrastructure, amenities, and opportunities of gainful employment and entrepreneurship.
 
“I have said on numerous occasions that having a Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and myself, as Members of Parliament, we understand firsthand how important it is for the rest of the Bahamas to undergo infrastructural upgrades as in the capital. Under this portfolio, I am committed to ensuring that development takes place throughout the entire country and especially, in our Family Islands.”
 
Minister Sweeting said his ministry is committed to rolling out a number of other capital initiatives throughout the Family Islands.
 
“Approximately 9 weeks ago, by request of the Honourable Prime Minister, I took up office at the Ministry of Works and Family Island Affairs. This ministerial portfolio touches the lives of everyone throughout the archipelago.  Knowing that this ministry is vitally important to the productivity of the nation, I knew and understood that right off the bat we would have a lot of heavy lifting ahead of us. As you can see, Works is already Working for you.
 
“Last weekend, I had the opportunity to bring remarks, at which time I made it abundantly clear that this Davis/Cooper administration is focused on the development of The Family Islands and under my tenure at the Ministry of Works and Family Island Affairs I expect to also place considerable focus on the development of all Family islands to the best of my ability and resources.
 
“Today we are pleased to sign this contract with Knowles Construction to rebuild the roads on both South and North Bimini. I hope to be in Andros soon, Eleuthera and Long Island to follow suit,” Minister Sweeting added.  

The recent contract signing for roadworks to be conducted in north and south Bimini was a further indication of the importance the Davis Administration has placed on the remainder of The Bahamas undergoing the requisite infrastructural upgrades as in the capital.   Senior government officials from the Ministry of Works and Family Island Affairs, signed a $2,819,713 Roadworks Contract (Friday, November 17, 2023) for north and south Bimini, that will include Buccaneers Subdivision.  Knowles Construction and Development Company Ltd. are the contractors.   Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs, the Hon. Clay Sweeting, said the Bimini roadworks are a result of: “Focused and advanced planning.”   “In December of 2022, Knowles Construction and Development Company Ltd., completed the runway at South Bimini airport. Upon completion of the project, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Philip E. Davis, K.C., implored Mr. Emile Knowles to leave his asphalt plant in Bimini in anticipation of the execution of these roadworks.   “That was focused and advanced planning,” Mr. Sweeting said.   Mr. Sweeting said the Administration further understands the important roles the Family Islands play as “highly sought after travel destinations.”   “Our islands are highly sought after travel destinations and we must ensure that not only the visitors to our shores, both domestic and international, are comfortable on our islands, but that the residents living in each and every island have a home that is conducive to proper infrastructure, amenities, and opportunities of gainful employment and entrepreneurship.   “I have said on numerous occasions that having a Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and myself, as Members of Parliament, we understand firsthand how important it is for the rest of the Bahamas to undergo infrastructural upgrades as in the capital. Under this portfolio, I am committed to ensuring that development takes place throughout the entire country and especially, in our Family Islands.”   Minister Sweeting said his ministry is committed to rolling out a number of other capital initiatives throughout the Family Islands.   “Approximately 9 weeks ago, by request of the Honourable Prime Minister, I took up office at the Ministry of Works and Family Island Affairs. This ministerial portfolio touches the lives of everyone throughout the archipelago.  Knowing that this ministry is vitally important to the productivity of the nation, I knew and understood that right off the bat we would have a lot of heavy lifting ahead of us. As you can see, Works is already Working for you.   “Last weekend, I had the opportunity to bring remarks, at which time I made it abundantly clear that this Davis/Cooper administration is focused on the development of The Family Islands and under my tenure at the Ministry of Works and Family Island Affairs I expect to also place considerable focus on the development of all Family islands to the best of my ability and resources.   “Today we are pleased to sign this contract with Knowles Construction to rebuild the roads on both South and North Bimini. I hope to be in Andros soon, Eleuthera and Long Island to follow suit,” Minister Sweeting added.  

In an effort to eliminate the current backlog of road defects in New Providence, the Ministry of Works and Utilities has resumed weekend and night repairs. The Ministry hosted a technical briefing Monday, July 17, 2023 to give an update on its pothole patching program.

Francis Clarke, Senior Civil Engineer with responsibility for Road Construction and Maintenance, Bahiyyah Hepburn, Assistant Civil Engineer/Road Maintenance Manager and Ryan Rahming, Bahamix General Manager, led the briefing.
 Said Mr. Clarke, “The contractors for 12 zones of New Providence have been renewed and have already started road repair works. The main focus at the moment are the arterial, collector roads and residential areas that are most affected. We have upgraded our contracts to include resurfacing areas that require too much patching.

“Our staff from the Ministry and 12 private contractors are working diligently to repair our roads day and night through pothole patching and repaving/resurfacing. The Ministry is always fully aware of the concerns through our Hotline and monitoring of more than 800 miles of road within New Providence not inclusive of some private sub-divisions.”

Among the intersections scheduled for resurfacing are: East Street and Balfour Avenue, East Street and Cordeaux Avenue, Carmichael Road and Cow Pen Road and a segment of Windsor Field Road by Charlottesville.

In addition to paving that is currently being carried out on East Street (south), paving is also planned for: Baillou Hill Road (south), Tonique Williams Darling Highway, Joe Farrington Road, Lincoln Boulevard and Carmichael Road.

Ms. Hepburn explained that there are 12 zones which are managed by assistant engineers and tended by a single contractor.  Each assistant engineer is responsible for 2 zones.  Most of the information is received from the Hotline, which is processed and instructions are disseminated to the contractors.

She said the Ministry’s ideal response time is within a 2-day period for arterials, 3 days for collectors, 5 days for locals.
 She explained that the goal is based on an “ideal” situation where all resources are mobilized, some persons are on the road working, there is access to material for patching and suitable weather conditions exist.

“Right now our response time is not ideal. We’re trying to close the gap right now,” she said.

Mr. Clarke said the Ministry is looking at what it can “do better” and endeavours to improve all of the roads in New Providence.

“The MOW recently hired 25 young men and women between the ages of 18-25 to increase our human resource. We are also going to be outsourcing the road maintenance division in terms of new/heavy equipment; all of this is to improve the response time to attend to the public complaints.

“In the past contracts we had just pot-hole patching. We have installed in the contracts a paving component. If we believe it [the road] needs to be paved, the contractor would go in and pave the stretch.”

Mr. Clarke said roads built during the New Providence Road Improvement Project (which began in 2001), perform much better than the majority of the roads that were built 60 years ago.

“We have an improved drainage system on the new roads which will require maintenance after a while. The roads you see flooding and have issues are old roads built years ago. Once areas start to develop, you clear down land you reduce the ability of the land to drain itself. The limestone structure has a lot of cavities. If you clear the land you reduce the land’s ability to drain itself. That is why we have a lot of flooding on the older roads.”

He revealed that the MOW is working to improve the conditions of Dowdesdwell Street -- a flood-prone area.

In an effort to eliminate the current backlog of road defects in New Providence, the Ministry of Works and Utilities has resumed weekend and night repairs. The Ministry hosted a technical briefing Monday, July 17, 2023 to give an update on its pothole patching program. Francis Clarke, Senior Civil Engineer with responsibility for Road Construction and Maintenance, Bahiyyah Hepburn, Assistant Civil Engineer/Road Maintenance Manager and Ryan Rahming, Bahamix General Manager, led the briefing.   Said Mr. Clarke, “The contractors for 12 zones of New Providence have been renewed and have already started road repair works. The main focus at the moment are the arterial, collector roads and residential areas that are most affected. We have upgraded our contracts to include resurfacing areas that require too much patching. “Our staff from the Ministry and 12 private contractors are working diligently to repair our roads day and night through pothole patching and repaving/resurfacing. The Ministry is always fully aware of the concerns through our Hotline and monitoring of more than 800 miles of road within New Providence not inclusive of some private sub-divisions.” Among the intersections scheduled for resurfacing are: East Street and Balfour Avenue, East Street and Cordeaux Avenue, Carmichael Road and Cow Pen Road and a segment of Windsor Field Road by Charlottesville.   In addition to paving that is currently being carried out on East Street (south), paving is also planned for: Baillou Hill Road (south), Tonique Williams Darling Highway, Joe Farrington Road, Lincoln Boulevard and Carmichael Road. Ms. Hepburn explained that there are 12 zones which are managed by assistant engineers and tended by a single contractor.  Each assistant engineer is responsible for 2 zones.  Most of the information is received from the Hotline, which is processed and instructions are disseminated to the contractors. She said the Ministry’s ideal response time is within a 2-day period for arterials, 3 days for collectors, 5 days for locals.   She explained that the goal is based on an “ideal” situation where all resources are mobilized, some persons are on the road working, there is access to material for patching and suitable weather conditions exist. “Right now our response time is not ideal. We’re trying to close the gap right now,” she said. Mr. Clarke said the Ministry is looking at what it can “do better” and endeavours to improve all of the roads in New Providence. “The MOW recently hired 25 young men and women between the ages of 18-25 to increase our human resource. We are also going to be outsourcing the road maintenance division in terms of new/heavy equipment; all of this is to improve the response time to attend to the public complaints. “In the past contracts we had just pot-hole patching. We have installed in the contracts a paving component. If we believe it [the road] needs to be paved, the contractor would go in and pave the stretch.” Mr. Clarke said roads built during the New Providence Road Improvement Project (which began in 2001), perform much better than the majority of the roads that were built 60 years ago.   “We have an improved drainage system on the new roads which will require maintenance after a while. The roads you see flooding and have issues are old roads built years ago. Once areas start to develop, you clear down land you reduce the ability of the land to drain itself. The limestone structure has a lot of cavities. If you clear the land you reduce the land’s ability to drain itself. That is why we have a lot of flooding on the older roads.” He revealed that the MOW is working to improve the conditions of Dowdesdwell Street -- a flood-prone area.

The proposed Gladstone Road Improvement Project is expected to incorporate new features which support the government’s emphasis on resilience and sustainability.

A 4-lane carriageway, an improved drainage system, street lighting, a bike trail, and sidewalks are among the new additions to the “major” corridor which has an estimated 2-year time completion.

The Ministry of Works and Utilities held a Town Meeting Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at the National Training Agency, Gladstone Road, to present plans for the new corridor.

Minister of Works and Utilities, the Hon. Alfred Sears said the occasion was to enable designers and experts in the Ministry; and consultants to have the benefit of the “collective wisdom” of the various communities which will be directly impacted by the project.

“As we put emphasis on wellness, the corridor will also make accommodation for bicycles, cyclists. We’re encouraging more of our people to exercise and have an active lifestyle,” said the Hon. Alfred Sears, Minister of Works and Utilities.

“In addition to pedestrians, cyclists, also for residents of areas which are in proximity to the corridor, there will be a physical barrier erected especially in the vicinity of Jubilee Gardens’ subdivision so that the quality of life of the residents who live adjacent to the highway will be protected in terms of minimizing noise as well as pollution.

“In the design, the focus is also on making it resilient; that is the elevation of the road, the installation of drainage infrastructure so that the reality of more intense weather phenomenon would not make the road impassable or inconvenient for traversing. A very modern drainage infrastructure has also been incorporated in the design,” he said.

Residents of the area, business owners, church leaders and representatives of BPL and the Water and Sewerage Corporation attended the meeting. Luther Smith, Permanent Secretary; Bacchus Rolle, Parliamentary Secretary; Damian Francis, deputy director and Dion Munroe, project engineer, were also present.

Minister Sears remarked that as a “major” corridor, Gladstone Road is very critical for commerce, domestic affairs, recreation, and also one of the most “troublesome” corridors in terms of traffic jams, accidents and other inconveniences including irritation due to the quality of the road [prior to improvements in December 2022].

“Taking into consideration this history and the increased use of this corridor, the design work has expanded the corridor from single to dual carriage way. It has also taken into consideration the use of the corridor by motorists in terms of dual carriage way, shoulders, the bus stop, lighting along the median; but for other users of the corridors, sidewalks on both sides of the corridor so that the pedestrian is not battling for space with the vehicular traffic.”

Using a power point presentation, Mr. Munroe gave an overview of the project. He said studies indicate that at peak hours between 5 am to 10 am it takes almost 20 minutes to get from one end of the three-mile-long single carriage way to the next at the 30 mph speed limit. The drive, however, is intended to be a 10 minute drive.

“We have exceeded the current capacity. By going to a dual carriageway we intend to get down to 7 minutes from one end to the next. That calls for the introduction of a dual carriageway with 4 lanes, 2 in either direction with a central lane separating opposing traffic flow.”

He said the new corridor will also introduce roundabouts to allow full turns at major junctions of Carmichael Road, Gladstone Road, Rocky Pine, Firetrail Road, near Aquinas College School. The junction at JFK will also be realigned and improved.

The design calls for 4 to 12-foot-wide lanes, two in either direction, sidewalks on either side from Carmichael Road to JFK, a bicycle path between Carmichael and Firetrail Road, bus stops with proper laybys, bus shelters, roadside drainage and a 4-foot-wide shoulder to allow a vehicle that malfunctions to be moved out of the flow of traffic.

These studies have been conducted: a traffic study, street lighting survey, geotechnical and environmental study.

A question and answer segment followed the presentation.

The proposed Gladstone Road Improvement Project is expected to incorporate new features which support the government’s emphasis on resilience and sustainability. A 4-lane carriageway, an improved drainage system, street lighting, a bike trail, and sidewalks are among the new additions to the “major” corridor which has an estimated 2-year time completion.   The Ministry of Works and Utilities held a Town Meeting Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at the National Training Agency, Gladstone Road, to present plans for the new corridor. Minister of Works and Utilities, the Hon. Alfred Sears said the occasion was to enable designers and experts in the Ministry; and consultants to have the benefit of the “collective wisdom” of the various communities which will be directly impacted by the project.   “As we put emphasis on wellness, the corridor will also make accommodation for bicycles, cyclists. We’re encouraging more of our people to exercise and have an active lifestyle,” said the Hon. Alfred Sears, Minister of Works and Utilities. “In addition to pedestrians, cyclists, also for residents of areas which are in proximity to the corridor, there will be a physical barrier erected especially in the vicinity of Jubilee Gardens’ subdivision so that the quality of life of the residents who live adjacent to the highway will be protected in terms of minimizing noise as well as pollution.   “In the design, the focus is also on making it resilient; that is the elevation of the road, the installation of drainage infrastructure so that the reality of more intense weather phenomenon would not make the road impassable or inconvenient for traversing. A very modern drainage infrastructure has also been incorporated in the design,” he said. Residents of the area, business owners, church leaders and representatives of BPL and the Water and Sewerage Corporation attended the meeting. Luther Smith, Permanent Secretary; Bacchus Rolle, Parliamentary Secretary; Damian Francis, deputy director and Dion Munroe, project engineer, were also present.   Minister Sears remarked that as a “major” corridor, Gladstone Road is very critical for commerce, domestic affairs, recreation, and also one of the most “troublesome” corridors in terms of traffic jams, accidents and other inconveniences including irritation due to the quality of the road [prior to improvements in December 2022]. “Taking into consideration this history and the increased use of this corridor, the design work has expanded the corridor from single to dual carriage way. It has also taken into consideration the use of the corridor by motorists in terms of dual carriage way, shoulders, the bus stop, lighting along the median; but for other users of the corridors, sidewalks on both sides of the corridor so that the pedestrian is not battling for space with the vehicular traffic.” Using a power point presentation, Mr. Munroe gave an overview of the project. He said studies indicate that at peak hours between 5 am to 10 am it takes almost 20 minutes to get from one end of the three-mile-long single carriage way to the next at the 30 mph speed limit. The drive, however, is intended to be a 10 minute drive.   “We have exceeded the current capacity. By going to a dual carriageway we intend to get down to 7 minutes from one end to the next. That calls for the introduction of a dual carriageway with 4 lanes, 2 in either direction with a central lane separating opposing traffic flow.” He said the new corridor will also introduce roundabouts to allow full turns at major junctions of Carmichael Road, Gladstone Road, Rocky Pine, Firetrail Road, near Aquinas College School. The junction at JFK will also be realigned and improved. The design calls for 4 to 12-foot-wide lanes, two in either direction, sidewalks on either side from Carmichael Road to JFK, a bicycle path between Carmichael and Firetrail Road, bus stops with proper laybys, bus shelters, roadside drainage and a 4-foot-wide shoulder to allow a vehicle that malfunctions to be moved out of the flow of traffic.   These studies have been conducted: a traffic study, street lighting survey, geotechnical and environmental study. A question and answer segment followed the presentation.

The Gladstone Road paving project is progressing steadily.

Now into the third week of paving, Bahamix General Manager, Ryan Rahming said the work, which is scheduled in phases, is moving more smoothly than anticipated and expected to soon reach the half-way mark -- just beyond Fire Trail Road.

The project’s scope of works begins at Rubis, Gladstone Road and ends at Carmichael Road. 

“The work entails using a milling machine to remove a specific depth of old asphalt surface [which] we cut down to an inch-and a-half. We truck that away and lay an inch-and-half of fresh asphalt. We [then] compact and roll it to the existing line and level,” said Mr. Rahming.

With no unforeseen circumstances to date, traffic management is operating as planned.

“There are some hiccups in the process and it’s usually during the paving aspects of the job,” said Mr. Rahming. “During the milling the traffic is allowed to move where we allow them to move and not in the path of the milling machine. We allow them to flow when the milling machine process is taking place. When there is paving and the hot asphalt is very soft and impressionable, we want to stop traffic and not allow [it] to move through while the asphalt is being placed on the road.

“The traffic component of the project is probably the most difficult aspect -- trying to allow business owners and their employees to have access to their places of business,” he added.

Mr. Rahming said the public was informed of the road paving project through a notice, continuous dialogue and door-to-door distribution of flyers.
“We’ve had very little complaints from residents and we’ve been allowing them access to their properties,” he said.

Bahamix has scheduled paving works from 9:30 pm to 3:30 am for the duration of the project. The department apologizes for any inconvenience and asks the motoring public to be understanding and patient.

Established in 1981, Bahamix manufactures and supplies asphalt for private and government sectors including the Ministry of Public Works’ pothole patching crews.

 

The Gladstone Road paving project is progressing steadily. Now into the third week of paving, Bahamix General Manager, Ryan Rahming said the work, which is scheduled in phases, is moving more smoothly than anticipated and expected to soon reach the half-way mark -- just beyond Fire Trail Road. The project’s scope of works begins at Rubis, Gladstone Road and ends at Carmichael Road.    “The work entails using a milling machine to remove a specific depth of old asphalt surface [which] we cut down to an inch-and a-half. We truck that away and lay an inch-and-half of fresh asphalt. We [then] compact and roll it to the existing line and level,” said Mr. Rahming. With no unforeseen circumstances to date, traffic management is operating as planned.   “There are some hiccups in the process and it’s usually during the paving aspects of the job,” said Mr. Rahming. “During the milling the traffic is allowed to move where we allow them to move and not in the path of the milling machine. We allow them to flow when the milling machine process is taking place. When there is paving and the hot asphalt is very soft and impressionable, we want to stop traffic and not allow [it] to move through while the asphalt is being placed on the road. “The traffic component of the project is probably the most difficult aspect -- trying to allow business owners and their employees to have access to their places of business,” he added. Mr. Rahming said the public was informed of the road paving project through a notice, continuous dialogue and door-to-door distribution of flyers. “We’ve had very little complaints from residents and we’ve been allowing them access to their properties,” he said. Bahamix has scheduled paving works from 9:30 pm to 3:30 am for the duration of the project. The department apologizes for any inconvenience and asks the motoring public to be understanding and patient. Established in 1981, Bahamix manufactures and supplies asphalt for private and government sectors including the Ministry of Public Works’ pothole patching crews.