High cost of EWA could make project prohibitive
(CNS): It is now about eight years since the government estimated that extending the East-West Arterial Road from Hurst Road all the way to Frank Sound, based only on materials and labour, would cost as much as $70 million, according to information released by the government under the Freedom of Information Law and shared with CNS. That estimate is now well out of date and does not reflect inflation since 2015 and a catalogue of other issues that will now add to the cost of this controversial road.
The public consultation process on the terms of reference (ToR) that will guide the environmental impact assessment closes on Monday, and how much this road will cost was one of the issues raised at most meetings.
The scientists undertaking the EIA have already confirmed the price tag of the road and the cost of the significant mitigation that will be required to address the environmental challenges that will form part of that process. The highway will be slicing through at least 174 acres of the Central Mangrove Wetlands, so the National Roads Authority would need to prevent flooding and protect the water lenses as well as address the impact on this environmentally sensitive habitat.
The acquisition of land is also likely to prove very costly once a route is finalised. Responding to the FOI request made by Sustainable Cayman, the information manager at the Ministry of Planning, which has overall responsibility for the policy decision, said this would be a collaboration between NRA and the Land & Survey Department Valuation Office. She said that value of land aquired would be estimated once the actual alignment of the road has been finalised.
“Acquisition of land will be a major component of project costs once all proposed alignments have been evaluated and a preferred alignment has been approved,” the information manager said. The updated estimate of construction cost will involce taking into account current land values, which are far higher today than they were in 2015, and reviewing the cost of road material, excavation and fill, as it is now proposed as a four-lane, 160-foot-wide highway with a variable-width median, dedicated bike lanes and shoulders.
The government official also noted the possible use of elevated structures where needed, as well as drainage and wildlife crossing features and all of the mitigation measures for unavoidable impacts.
The ministry has said that the actual dollar amount of positive impacts on the economy is difficult to quantify. But the government has argued that the road has the potential for intrinsic benefits, including increased safety for the travelling public with additional lanes, improved intersections, dedicated bike and pedestrian lanes and bus shelters. The increased access to the Eastern Districts will also pave the way for more tourists to travel further from Seven Mile Beach, boosting revenue for existing attractions and fueling new tourism development.
As noted at the recent public meetings, the government also believes that the road will provide greater resiliency to sea level rise because it is located further inland and elevated in key areas. However, the road will be below sea level for a significant part of the route and there are very real concerns that it will increase the risk of flooding for neighbouring communities to the south of the road.
The anticipated traffic congestion relief that government believes the road will solve is also highly contested by local environmental activists and ordinary residents, who have many different concerns about the project. Many believe that addressing the bottleneck at Grand Harbour and improving the localised road network and junctions in Bodden Town would have a more direct impact on the current two-hour commute for some residents.
The ministry has said that part of the EIA process is the comparative evaluation of the alternatives, which includes a Cost-Benefit Ratio (CBR) analysis for each option. This will be an economic analysis that quantifies the costs and benefits of constructing the proposed project using Base Year Dollars to allow for a fair comparison of costs and benefits.
“This analysis will use data from a variety of sources, including prior studies, ongoing design and construction cost estimates, and data collected from local sources,” the information manager said. “The CBR analysis will be a major factor in the determination of the preferred and recommended alternative. The process is to help inform decision making as it relates to the use or impacts on natural resources and ultimately help guide for more sustainable use of the resources.”
Justifying the cost of this road, which could take a decade to complete, even if the EIA presents viable solutions to the many environmental challenges, could prove troublesome for any government. While PACT appears in principle to support the project, it will be future administrations that may in the end have to make the decision, justify the costs and find the money.
It is likely that the EIA will take well over a year to complete, so by the time the current administration has considered the options presented by the assessment, it will be preparing to face the electorate, placing this divisive project at the centre of the campaign for MPs in the 2025 General Election.
Comments on the draft terms of reference to support the EIA can still be submitted by the public until Monday, 20 February by email to doe@gov.ky or hand delivered to the Department of Environment, Environmental Centre, 580 North Sound Road, George Town, Grand Cayman.
See the draft terms of reference in the CNS Library.
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Category: development, Land Habitat, Local News, Science & Nature
how do you spell incompetence?
j a y e b a n k s.
p a c t
Jay who’s going to pay for this road? I cant live now so if I gotta stay at work to pay for this road what’s the point of building it??
And now, in addition to the swamp highway, they want a new Port in Breakers! Where is all the money for these going to come from?!
DETERMINED TO RUIN THIS SMALL ISLAND!
Greed, greed, greed…..!
What do mean determined to ruin this small island , take a good look around it’s already to late .
,
how about finishing the roads you’ve started and the airport connector.
How about fixing the damn dump?
The smoldering dump
Steaming
There is absolutely no need whatsoever for this highway to extend straight to Frank Sound Rd. I am in agreement that it should be brought up to the Lookout Gardens, BT area. But it does not need to go beyond that at the moment.
It would be a huge waste of money and unnecessary destruction of nature to push this road all the way to Frank Sound and there is no real excuse to do so.
I have a simple question for the environmental scientist if the swamp where the road is to be built how can the water possibly drain into the North Sound?
Could they please publish a drawing that explains why it would need to be 160 feet wide?
The Tradewinds explained this visit in their song “England cold” the words and lyrics are the cold hard truth.
I bet not one person has ever saw a politician stuck in traffic
Wayne did that fake cry cry post one day. All now nothing change.
yeah, because he happened to get stuck in it once.
Boat must have been having its bottom cleaned that day.
Billion dollar highway soon come, bobo
It’s not roads that we need, it’s a prohibition against permit holders that don’t “need” cars from driving cars! Those who “need’ to be driving a car should have a special granted by the government. And for this to work, the bus services should be improved and affordable for the employers with many permit holders (like construction workers).
Sorry, but we can’t have any and every permit holder driving cars on this island. We have to think smart instead of tearing down forestry to build more roads and make Cayman hotter.
I know many will not like what I recommend, but I think it will be a good thing and clear up our roads BIG TIME.
As long as there’s no restrictions on motorbikes, tie the automobile drivers license to the work permit (like double the fee for a work permit + DL). Put it on the employers to determine if their expat staff really need to be driving cars. This should also incentivize employer-provided transport or locating their business closer to where the staff are.
I have another idea why not stop issuing work permits and have Cayman residents do the work themselves i, would solve the unemployment situation.
Brilliant!
As a single, childfree “permit holder” who lives in Bodden Town and works a corporate job wiht long hours and who is forced to be in office.
Why do I not “need” a vehicle?
I get to work at 6am … are the buses running from 5am — NO
I leave work at 7pm/10pm depending on the needs … are the buses running then … NO?
I think you should look at the Caymanian families who live on the same property and all 5 adults have a car and drive to work in George Town !!
Note the Bermudian model has ONE car registered to an address … who would be prevented from having a car .. not me Bobo
We should have the guys who did Cardinall Avenue take on this project.
If they start tomorrow they will be done by 2135 – just in time for teleportation devices to render roads pointless. 🤪
I don’t recall anything ever being cost-prohibitive for a politician.
According to my math at today’s cost just to do the road will be about $209 million. Based on total distance from Hirst Road to Frank Sound converted to square feet then multiply by $180 for 6 lanes.
This figure is just for the asphalt so imagine the cost to prep the land and government has to buy land.
I suspect that $209 will double.
A billion dollar highway, just watch.
Also then add Caymans ballooning inflation between outset and completion to come up with a final cost. Parallel with the road expansion ,will be the significant costs to cover the Breakers cargo port proposal.
How will Guvment cover these costs?
By adding more residents, maybe another 30,000 with professional work permit fees , another 20,000 cars imported with duties to collect .but the new cars will also be replacing ones that are scrapped .stamp duty on development and new homes being built . Going to need some new schools built to educate the new young students. A fleet of government provided buses for the students to get to the new schools .Supermarkets. Other crucial infrastructure needs will need to be upgraded.
I am certain the current government is anticipating these future needs Cayman will face.
Just few more lanes, guys. Trust me, it’s gonna work this time for real!
I guess I needed to mention that I was being sarcastic. If the ratio of down votes is an indicator of readers assuming I was being serious and to clarify, I wasn’t. This proposed extention is a nightmare on paper much less if ever implemented.
Source, facts: Trust me bro
The cost to build the road will probably increase to $125 million. But over 10 years that is only $12.5 million to fund. Each day a few thousand people spend around 2 hours in that traffic. If that commute can be reduced to 1 hour then the cost is immaterial to what the people lose in time each year.
I am afraid the road is just one part of a major look at moving people around the island. There have to be parking garages in the eastern districts that can house a few thousand cars at a time and some kind of park and ride system should be implemented to bring people in and out of Town. People in West Bay, George Town, Savanah and the Prospect and Red Bay should also be restricted with road use either having one car per household or restricted to 3 days a week to drive a car.
Of course, this is easy to say!
The NRA can’t complete the projects it already has going. 1 billion a year in revenue. Where is all of our money?!? Expertise?!?
Let’s finish the roads that have all ready been started there is no completion date on these projects can CNS find out what the date is looking at the pace of works and the utilities to be realigned I’m seeing 2 years plus definitely 2024
There is a long way to go with no real urgency or penalty clauses
that kind of money could give us the best bus service on the planet which would get rid of half the traffic in one hit!
be cheaper to knock down Hurleys and the rest of the buildings and open up the bottleneck
Just shove a tram line down the middle of the road and a couple of multi storey park and ride stops in Savannah and Bodden town. Tram goes into GT and Camana Bay and be done with it.
I agree. Trams are a great solution.
Bingo. I don’t know what a light rail system costs, but I bet $70 million would go a heck of a long way toward funding it.
Oh hell, what am I saying? It would be estimated at $142 million and with delays and cost overruns would eventually settle at $252 million.
This is my point: Look at it, study it, and get it started. Nothing else — other than a population decrease — will fix our horrific traffic problems.
Light rapid transit systems run in the $200M to $300M range for small city centre ring line. Running the length of the island would most likely triple that cost. There are other cost additive factors too like climate, corrosive environment, tropical storm resilience and elevation just to name a few.
I completely agree there should be a tram down the middle of the road from west bay to east end and north side and back, which would seriously help people, and the less the amount of traffic
I don’t agree, – earthquakes, hurricanes, a tram at our height above sea level maybe not the best idea.
but yet the rest of the world manages….
..But are not in an area of a higher than normal threat of hurricane impacts.
Japan
So a system about 40 Km long x about 15 to 20 km wide.
Just need to come up with the $3.0 to $4.0 Billion for such a system. Other poster above states +$250 Million for a small inner city / closed circle loop of just a few meagre kilometers radius, with today’s costs might be slightly on the thin wallet budget.
A light rail system of today’s standards would literally blow Caymans government away with cost. * It would need to be insured for any sustained damage in a storm.
Well I saw a post on another article referencing the proposed “Road to Destruction” (great title for it btw) and the exorbitant cost even as Chris is negotiating a massive loan through a local bank. Is anyone really paying attention to what this PACT runaway train wreck of a government is doing to us? All of this road building and unbridled work permit approval is madness that is digging a pit for Cayman to fall into. Caymanians need to wake up and take a stand!
I completely agree there should be a tram down the middle of the road from west bay to east end and north side and back, which would seriously help people, and the less the amount of traffic
It would be operational for about 1 hour before a Voxy or Honda Fit smash into it.
Make it a monorail then
Easier to just give each North Side voter $175,000
Can we make it $200k?
* moving to North Side* 🙂
CNS conjuring up almost the perfect antiphrasis headline when inferring the CI Govt 👏👏👏
Completely unnecessary. Fix the dump; fix CUC roundabout; fix the Hurley’s roundabout; fix the corruption and stop allowing criminals and abusers in Parliament.
Ban leaf blowers
Start traffic patrols
What’s the issue with leaf blowers?
You are part of the problem.
People who use them in residential areas at 5 am. Noise nuisance.
Yes please!! Ban these awful leaf blowers, it’s all week long in our area, never stops
Completely agree they are a massive noise nuisance all over the island on a daily basis. They destroy your plants roots and soil and are used for blowing your debris into next doors neighbours garden. Many states in the US have now banned them or at least insisted on electric quieter models only. This is an easy ban for government to improve the environment for all.
Kudos to Dart for using quiet electric blowers at Camana Bay.
Yes and the Jake brake….the songbirds of cayman
Add the air horn melodies at all hours of the day
8.40 You missed the most important one..greatly reduce the population by reducing the number of expats.
There it is. The destruction of the economy post. Great work!
Mindless nonsense. Go back to school.
have fun with all the Jamaicans Mac gave status too. oh, and their 20 children each.
1.04 Xenophobic some. The Jamaicans are not the biggest problem. Check who owning and running businesses along the Seven mile corridor and downtown.
Bike lanes and sharrows should be marked on every road and traffic circle with a posted speed limits of 30 mph or less. It’s already been an NRA public deliverable since 2015. No special procurement costs involved. They could buy some rollers and start on Monday. Putting multi-use speed-differential traffic beside highway race tracks is already a deadly idea without Armco, and not recommended anywhere on Earth. Let’s instead, adopt the best urban planning ideas and solutions from around the world. No unique solutions required. No more deaths.
for the love of all speak the language of the island, it is a roundabout.
Just stop this damn Highway to Destruction madness! The massive destruction to the public purse and to our precious wetlands is not worth it. We all know that this will not resolve the traffic issues, therefore, it begs to question why? Well, rumors are circulating about arguments erupting within the ranks of the newly appointed NRA board about whose brudda, mummeh, sista, granny, frien owns land that “must” be accessed. Is this really what it is all about? Folks, just stop it. We cannot afford this astronomical cost, on so many levels, just to repay political favors and promises. We all know that this road will not resolve the traffic issues. Other tough decisions must be made to mitigate these issues by less expensive and destructive means. Why aren’t we focused on providing an efficient and reliable public transport system, restriction on private vehicle imports, removal of derelict vehicles from our roads, reduction of work permit giveaways that are happening like candy treats but for no real need (some of these poor people are walking around seeking work because their employers do not have work for them to do!). What we really need is a total reset and refocus. Folks, we have far greater problems that require urgent attention in these supposedly affluent islands. Good people are starving! Little children and seniors are going to bed hungry in homes without electricity. Families are losing their homes because of rising interest rates making repayment of mortgages impossible. Home and health insurance costs are through the roof and can no longer be afforded; the list goes on. Yet here we are with the PACT government focused on stray chickens, stray cats and building the Highway to Destruction. Meanwhile, recent news stories reported this same PACT government making huge borrowings through a local bank. So they are growing the public debt but no one sees a problem with that? Plus adding the huge cost of the Highway to Destruction? All of this idiocy is happening here when the whole world is in disarray and our people are suffering from the rising cost of living. You just can’t make this stuff up! God help us.
A second lane for traffic sure helped West bay, so interested to hear how it worked there but won’t work here? You didn’t give many solutions for alternatives to the major traffic problems and loss of productivity/family time to people living in BT and beyond. One road in/out is not sensible and not planning for the future.
First to go in cutting costs will be the bike lanes. “CIG – Always thinking its way backwards”.
You mean “food delivery lanes”.
All that money just to open up some “farmland” for Arden and Ezzard.
Don’t forget Alden and Kurt bought land along that route when they first introduced this..
These guys are geniuses!
Ahhh 7:00 pm. Today I took the time to read Ezzard’s coverage in another online media outlet. All I could do was shake my head. I chided myself to at least give him credit for his raw honesty; his support of this road seems to be solely for the possibility of gaining wealth. It’s all about the money! Greed in any firm us greed and this is precisely what is destroying these islands.
7.00 Says the person who is in walking distance of wotk and don’t ned the road.
Of course, it being a stupid idea which would do nothing to alleviate traffic issues, also makes it somewhat prohibitive
Fix the damn dump!
Not in your lifetime Bobo.
Imagine how wild it will be once the 2 week plus smoldering fire really kicks off