St. Maarten Private Eye

Yes let's build road and another one but the truth of the matter is that doesn't solve the problem. We can build 16 roads connecting one area to the next but then there will still be too many cars ont the road. You may ask Why ? because we are over developing the island and there isn't any evolution in the infrastructure sector. Have you seen the number of condos and hotels build on the island. It is useless, we don't have any water, we don't have enough roads nor security. therefore soon we will become China Town cause we will be inhaling all of the Co2 from the cars and be drinking our own waste because we wouldn't have any lagoon to ditch the waste water. But do we think on that? NO cause we have to build build and build.Didn't Luis teach us enough, I don't think so, I will always say this that I love my island that is why I'm speaking out but there will come a time Luis 2 or heavy rains will hit the island and we will always cry MURDER cause we killed one another by destroying our island.

lala 4 life

In my opinion,all private cars should be banned on your beautiful island altogether.Just stick to public transport :-)))
Make your island PEOPLE FRIENDLY!!!

I fail to see how a bridge through the lagoon to Port de Plaisance would alleviate traffic. It would only benefit a relatively small group of people living in Colebay. Any people that have to get to the French side are probably already doing this via Low Lands - Sandy Ground. Most of the traffic is caused by people trying to get from the airport / simpson bay over the hill. What is needed is a secondary connection over or around "the hill". Also the roundabout that is being talked about for 2 or 3 years at the bottom of the hill might improve the flow of traffic. The money would be better spend on these options.

Now if the French wanted to pay for such a connection through the lagoon possibly with support from the European Union, that would be a very different story. It would probably help revive their economy somewhat.

The french said they'll help pay fo it. And besides, the dutch side gets a lot of projects finnanced by the EU , while they are not peart of it . They benefit without chipping in.
Any new road or bridge will help ease the traffics woes. Altough I agree it will not solve them.

My opinion on the bridge through the lagoon will only get motorists to Cole Bay to join the traffic there. It will be a short cut to Cole Bay but we will all have to spend time in traffic in Cole Bay.
And what about the environmental implications? Is the Lagoon so sad that people are not thinking about what such a structure will do to the lagoons environment and ecology?

It is incredible that there is not a decent public transportation system that would alleviate some of the traffic issues.
But I am even more amazed that there is NO bus route to/along the hospital. The hospital has moved out of town for a long time, even with the present system it is possible to have a bus route that passes Belair and the hospital to and from town!

A long time Cole Bay resident

The solution to the Public Transportation issue is to stop issuing bus licenses and start a government owned company for public transportation. No renewal of the bus licenses and eventually they will be phased out. This company should be subsidized by the Government and the rates should be lowered in order to accommodate the lower end of our society. Obviously this suggestion is only valid when we have a government who really cares for the people.
Soon

Soon, when the senior citizen issue came up from Commissioner Laveist about senior citizens getting free rides, I was at first mystified how he was going to do this in practice if all buses are privately owned.
And then all these old people complaining that buses don't want to stop for them-I was not surprised at all, you see in order to offer senior citizens over a certain age free transportation, Government has to subside this and pay the bus drivers. Is Laveist expecting the bus drivers to offer free transportation out of their own pockets? And then he going on about how it is his initiative? It is the bus drivers that have to pay gas, insurance, bus maintenance in order to conduct business, if they continue picking up our elderly for free, they loose business that Laveist is not paying back to them.
How in heavens name did the press not pick up on this when the wonderful sounding free transportation for senior citizens was announced?
Sounds great! I want my 94 year old aunt to ride the bus for free, but I also want compensation for the private bus driver to continue his small business.

If the actual drivers were permit holders I would have not comment on this issue. A lot of these permit holders do not deserve to have a permit. They only use it as a business venture. It is suppose to be your main income and not providing you with a side job. During the period that Mr. Ferrier was commissioner the bus driver association provided the government with a lot of information in regards to the illegality that is going on. But as usual no respond. The fact is that the public transportation issues will never stop as none of these public transportation sectors are united. That is the reason why I suggested a government public transport sector and not a private one. This will benefit the community at large.
Soon

The problem with Simpson bay was poor planning in the beginning and now it is going to cause great pain to fix the problem. The bridge "to no where" would be a horrible idea if you believe the island is beautiful. If you believe the island is a toilet, designed to be shit all over... then it is a great idea.

Airport road needs to be 4 lanes from Maho, through Simpson Bay, and "over the hill". All side roads off of the main roads need to be maintained and their openings widened.

Can the above be done? Not without removing whole buildings, eliminating all the parking spaces on the road etc. This situation needs massive correction and it can be resolved forever. Bandaids will not help...

It appears the solution that SXM wants is to build more and ignore the Simpson Bay "issues" which have been going on for quite a while.

The problem is that there is absolutely no zoning. There is a law that makes zoning possible (The Zoning Ordinance), but it never went fully into effect. Since the mid-90's Sint Maarten is working with planning permits as a more or less temporary solution. The difference is that planning permits are requested by the landowner, while zoning plans are made by the government to regulate land use and development.
And why does SXM not have zoning plans (only one: Fort Amsterdam). Is that because: politicians do not want a general policy because it gives them less space to deal with developers? Is it because it effects private properties which is scary. Politicians could lose votes. Or is it because there are no civil servants that are available and trained for this work? I don't know. Any answers?

I do think four lanes is the answer.
Planning still allows woefully inadequate parking for the developments along that road. Radical , but the answer is to stop the parking in front of buisnesses all along the strip. Build some multi level parking and put in proper sidewalks. Unfortunately it would kill some buisnesses but that is the painful fix which is practical