Work starts in industrial area

(CNS): Between them the National Roads Authority (NRA) and the Water Authority-Cayman will be spending $850,000 to upgrade water pipes and roads over the next six weeks in George Town’s Industrial Park area. Population growth and increasing demand for water services combined with a need to upgrade the road surfaces have led the two authorities to team up to undertake the much needed upgrade project.

The infrastructural upgrades will include the replacing of a 12-inch water pipeline with a 16-inch one, which will run from the authority’s plant on Red Gate Road to Butterfield Roundabout.  "All the work will be done at night and on Sundays, to minimise inconvenience to the travelling public," Water Authority Chief Operations Manager Robert Robler said estimating that it will take three of the six weeks to get to the North Sound Road and Dorcy Drive intersection, and another three to complete the run to Butterfield Roundabout.

The authority’s Customer Service Manager Joanna Welcome-Martinez said population growth as the driving force behind the upgrades. "The number of service contracts has increased exponentially," she said. "In the last 13 years, they have grown from about 5,000 to more than 14,000."

Once Water Authority crews are through, NRA staff will commence their portion of the work. This includes trench repair along Portland Road and the affected areas of Dorcy Drive, followed by the resurfacing of Butterfield Roundabout and North Sound Road, from the roundabout to Sparky Drive. "That section of North Sound Road has not been repaired for several years, and the surface is considerably worn," NRA Managing Director Brian Tomlinson explained. "And since the Water Authority had to upgrade pipelines in that area, it made perfect sense to partner with them on the project."

Water Authority and NRA officials encourage residents using the affected sections of Industrial Park to take care when passing by work crews, and to use alternative routes when possible.