The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) advises the motoring public on St. John that work on the Cruz Bay Electrical Underground Project will continue along Northshore Road beginning on Monday, Sept. 13.
As a result of the work, traffic flow will be adversely impacted, especially in the downtown Cruz Bay area. Flaggers will be on site to assist with traffic control, and motorists traversing through the work area are asked to proceed with caution.
The project, to be done in three phases, replaces existing overhead electrical lines and equipment with underground facilities to lessen damage from future hurricanes and windstorms and ensure more efficient service restoration in the aftermath of a natural disaster.
The initial work on the project featured trenching and conduit installation within the Frank Bay area near WAPA’s existing electrical substation. This work will continue towards Grande Bay while a second trenching and conduit installation project gets underway from Mongoose Junction towards downtown Cruz Bay.
The project is funded jointly by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The contractor is Haugland Energy Group with project management provided by FX Bonnes Associates. The $11.9 million first phase of the project is expected to be completed at the end of March 2022.
Similar electrical undergrounding projects are slated for St. Thomas and St. Croix as part of a larger strategic transformation of the territory’s electrical and water utility.