Kim Swan on Causeway: We Need a Safe Crossing
Opposition Leader and St. Georges’s MP Kim.Swan has spoken out on the Causeway, saying while we have a temporary bridge, we need a safe crossing as it “affects the airport lifeline” and could endanger lives should anyone require serious hospital care during a severe storm.
Saying Government has “treated the people of St. George’s and St. David’s like orphans while wasting millions of dollars in overspends on other large capital projects,” Mr Swan said we need is a safe crossing, “such as those in the Florida Keyes, which is high enough above the water so neither it nor emergency vehicles are likely to be damaged by hurricane-driven waves.” The Florida Keys Bridge is pictured below.
The Causeway has been damaged multiple times by hurricanes throughout its 139-year history. Opened to traffic in 1871, it was wrecked by “The Great Storm” which ravaged Bermuda in September, 1880, rebuilt according to the original design provided by the Royal Engineers but devastated again by another hurricane in 1899. In 1995 it sustained damage when Hurricane Felix brushed the island.
When Hurricane Fabian hit the island in 2003, the causeway – an essential part of the island’s traffic infrastructure and the only land-link between the mainland and St. George’s – was severely damaged. Four people died and the island was cut off from the world for several days.
Mr Swan’s full statement follows below:
Bermudians have to ask why the PLP Government continues year after year to neglect the Causeway and the East End.
Did they not learn a lesson with Hurricane Fabian in 2003 when St. George’s and St. David’s was cut off from the rest of Bermuda for days after the storm?
We are fortunate that Igor was relatively mild, but we may not be so lucky next time. Not only is it an unnecessary and severe inconvenience for those living in the East End – as evidenced by today’s traffic hold-ups – but it also affects the airport lifeline and could easily endanger lives requiring serious hospital treatment during a severe storm.
The Government has never been seriously committed to modernizing the Causeway. It did not apply the $11 million base closure settlement with the Americans, even though the deal earmarked the money for Longbird Bridge. Its $1.5 million post-Fabian study – completed in 2006 – recommended new crossings as well as repairs and upgrades to the existing Causeway. But today, all we’ve got to show for it is a temporary bridge, reports gathering dust on the bookshelves of the Works Minister’s office and no change in the physical structure or traffic flow.
What Bermuda needs is a safe crossing, such as those in the Florida Keyes, which is high enough above the water so neither it nor emergency vehicles are likely to be damaged by hurricane-driven waves.
The Government has been treading water on the Causeway. They’ve treated the people of St. George’s and St. David’s like orphans while wasting millions of dollars in overspends on other large capital projects.
It is time for the Government to get serious about the Causeway. As a country, we need to address the most critical infrastructure challenges instead of crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. All of us depend on the Causeway. The Government has to get its priorities in order, commit to a safer more durable crossing and do something.
[Photo courtesy of Fromtheyak.com]
Update Sept 23, 8:43am: Due to concerns expressed this morning that we made an error, we would like to clarify that this is accurate, and the version carried elsewhere was erroneously attributed.
You are absolutely right … we do need to give some attention to building a safer bridge … but let’s stop “pointing fingers” because four more fingers are pointing back at you. Of the 139-year history that nothing was done … who was in power … the PLP or the UBP? Let’s work together to make for a Better Bermuda!