The controversial New Providence Road Improvement Project (NPRIP), which began in earnest in 2009 under the Ingraham administration, could be completed before the end of the year, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Urban Development Philip Brave Davis. Nearly all of the roads being renovated have had the final layer of asphalt applied. Contractors have set their attention on other aspects of the mammoth project, including signage, road striping, sidewalks and curbing. Ministry of Public Works officials previously indicated that that portion of the project is expected to be completed by early next year.
In an interview outside the Cabinet Office on Tuesday, Davis was asked if the road works would be completed before the end of the holiday season. "As you would have noticed by now the road works - what I call the New Providence road program - is substantially complete," he said. "There is through passage on all of the roads and the only thing that is happening now is the accommodation works, [such as] drainage, the gully pots and the rest of those works. It is complete as far as we are concerned. "We just have to complete the Airport Gateway Project, which is on schedule and on budget." Even after the contractor Jose Cartellone Construcciones Civiles S.A. turns over the roads to the government, the Ministry of Public Works will commission a study on the design of all the roads that fall under the project, which could result in additional road works, Davis said in a prior interview.
"In some instances you find that the sidewalks when you put them together [are] wider than the road itself," Davis told reporters in a previous interview. "So there are a lot of challenges with the accommodation works, and it is the intent that once the roads are turned over to us there will be a study done on road usages, and whatever needs to be corrected will be corrected." He added that there are a lot of complaints already about the design of the roads and if those complaints persist, and after collaboration with and input from road users and businesses impacted by the roads, "we will decide if we have to make corrections as necessary to make the experience more pleasant for those stakeholders".
In addition to commissioning the study, Davis said the Ministry of Public Works will establish a road maintenence unit to ensure that the roads remain in good condition, especially considering the money invested. The NPRIP will cost an estimated $206 million when completed. Cost overruns associated with the project are estimated to be $93 million. The government recently signed an agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for a $65 million loan to help fund the project.
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