Re-routed Airport Boulevard
opened, in use as of today
SIMPSON BAY--The new re-routed Airport Boulevard, which runs around the new air terminal building that is under construction, was officially opened on Monday afternoon by Aviation Affairs Commissioner Sarah Wescott-Williams. She was the first driver on the road with passenger Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards, after Pastor Wycliffe Smith blessed it.
The old road that runs between the existing terminal building and the new one is closed off as of today, so road users now have to use the re-routed road. The old road will make way for the extended runway apron.
Instead of the traditional ribbon cutting, Wescott-Williams used her vehicle to remove the orange and green ribbons as Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company President Eugene Holiday, Tourism Commissioner Theo Heyliger, French side Deputy Mayor Romeo Fleming, airport board members and other invited guests observed from the road divider.
The official ceremony was held in the new terminal building due to intermittent rain and heavy winds which earlier in the morning had blown the tents set up for the event onto the road, disrupting traffic.
Holiday said the opening of the road represented “the delivery of the first tangible stage of the transformation of the airport’s landscape into a more effective regional gateway.” The new road network, the planned frontage roads and parking facilities that will be constructed later are intended to ensure smoother road access and traffic flow in and around the airport.
After they leave the new terminal building, the re-routed road will be the first experience visitors will have with the island’s tourism product, he added. “To ensure a continued positive development of our tourism business and thus the economic wellbeing of our people, it is therefore essential that we pay close attention to the overall development of the road network on the island, particularly in and around the airport.”
The re-routed road cost the airport US $2.5 million. By the end of the project, a total of US $5 million will have been spent on frontage roads, car parking facilities and landscaping that will ensure “a warm and pleasant welcome to our island.”
The ceremony also marked the opening of a new area for development, Holiday added. “This is a point where we are to take a decision regarding the development direction of the area. Therefore, it is crucial that we seize this opportunity to establish developmental guidelines and restrictions for the airport area, to avoid overdevelopment.”
Overdevelopment will only lead to further congestion of the area and undermine the effectiveness of the new facilities to serve the tourism economy of the island, he stated. “By choosing to cross over to the new road it is imperative that we choose to cross over to new developmental policies for the area.”
Wescott-Williams said every milestone of the project deserved celebration. She added that some areas of the lagoon bordered the new road, to ensure that visitors have a scenic drive from the airport.
Delivery of the re-routed road marks the end of one stage of the Phase II expansion, with the challenge to complete the new terminal building in the next 11 months, Koop Holding Europe representative Ton van Schaick said.
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