Above: St Lucia (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

St Lucia’s newest project aims to give the country a “modern” road network.

According to Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Philip Pierre, the new Choc Bay-Gros Islet and Secondary Roads Improvement Project aims to reduce traffic congestion, reduce travel time and open up new areas for development.

“This vision of a new, modern, resilient, and traffic friendly roadway from Castries to Gros-Islet was born out of a vision of the [Prime Minister],” Pierre said at the signing ceremony. “The project proposes the rehabilitation of approximately seven kilometers of road, and the improvement of [several] secondary roads which will create new growth opportunities in the north and alleviate the traffic bottleneck.”

Along with new roads will come new traffic monitoring and data gathering services.

Their installation will help with remote monitoring of traffic in order to improve emergency responses, he said.

Other components of the project include the addition of two new loans from Choc Bay to the Gros Islet junction, seven overhead pedestrian bridges and the construction of new roundabouts, among others.

The project is slated for completion by 2018.