Alarm Over Lack of New Roads Ahead of School Reopening

Businessman proposes alternative routes, district high schools and increased police presence to ease congestion across Providenciales

Businessman and entrepreneur Willah Gray has expressed deep concern that no additional road routes were created during the summer to address the heavy traffic expected with the start of the new school year on Providenciales.

GRAY...Five Cays has a primary school, but it needs its own high school

Providenciales is the most populous island in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the centre of the country’s tourism industry. Gray warned that its existing road network is struggling to keep pace with continued population and economic growth.

Unless urgent measures are taken, he said, commuters could face severe congestion during the morning and evening rush hours, particularly near schools, major roundabouts and routes leading to the Howard Hamilton International Airport.

“My concern is the fact that there have not been any additional routes throughout the entire summer,” Gray lamented. “We are growing, but we are not adapting to our growth.”

He acknowledged the placement of orange traffic barriers in the median along sections of the Leeward Highway but said this was not a strong or lasting solution to Providenciales’ traffic problems.

Gray identified several areas where congestion is expected to become particularly serious, including Wheeland, Blue Hills, Five Cays and Suzie Turn. He said the absence of new routes or other major traffic-easing measures would affect students, government employees, hotel workers and other daily commuters.

He warned that the island’s tourism industry could also suffer, with taxis, private SUV and VIP-transfer operators facing delays while transporting visitors to and from the airport.

“It is important that our taxi drivers, VIP drivers, hotels and guests, as well as the airport, are not affected by traffic issues,” Gray said. “There have been situations in the past where guests were late for their flights. That is a huge concern.”

Proposal to Open Alternative Routes

Gray proposed opening alternative road connections, including a route from Blue Hills to Thompson Cove, a link from Blue Hills through the Snake Hill area towards the road leading to the airport, and improved access from Freshwater Avenue through Kew Town to Airport Road.

He said such connections could reduce the number of vehicles relying on the same major roads and provide motorists with alternatives when collisions or other incidents cause blockages.

Give Five Cays a High School to Ease Traffic Congestion

The businessman also encouraged the Government to consider constructing high schools in the Five Cays/Chalk Sound and Cheshire Hall districts. He argued that placing schools closer to the communities they serve, and introducing school-registration zones, would reduce the number of students travelling across Providenciales each morning and afternoon.

“Five Cays has a primary school, but it needs its own high school,” he said. “This would ease the traffic coming out of Five Cays in the morning and evening because of the transportation needed to get children to and from school.”

He added that a community high school would make education more accessible to families living in Five Cays and Chalk Sound, whose children currently travel to areas such as Long Bay and Blue Hills.

Gray said the Cheshire Hall district, encompassing communities from Airport Road and Kew Town to Richmond Hill and Venetian Road, should also have a high school.

“Cheshire Hall is the largest constituency in the Turks and Caicos Islands, but it does not have a high school,” he said. “This too would ease the heavy traffic we have in the morning and afternoon.”

Under a properly planned zoning system, Gray said, students could attend schools closer to their homes. Some children could potentially walk or cycle to school, further reducing the volume of vehicles on Providenciales’ roads.

He predicted that without immediate intervention, the reopening of schools would produce “a tsunami of vehicles” and could create a near-blockade stretching from the Blue Hills roundabout beyond the Graceway IGA Supermarket area during peak periods.

Stronger Police Presence Needed at Roundabouts

Gray also called for a stronger police presence at roundabouts, in school zones and at known traffic bottlenecks such as Suzie Turn and Downtown during rush hour.

He urged the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force to increase the use of motorcycle officers, who he said could move through congested traffic and respond more quickly to collisions and other road emergencies.

“I encourage the police to get back to motorcycle officers who can get to accident reports much quicker,” Gray said. “We also need more officers present at the roundabouts and in the school zones in the mornings.”

Gray stressed that his comments were intended to raise awareness and offer solutions, not merely to criticise the Government.

“These are things that could easily be avoided, but the fact that nothing has happened throughout the entire summer shows that we are not prepared,” he said.

He expressed hope that the Government would receive his recommendations in good faith and act to protect commuters, students, tourism workers, visitors and the wider Turks and Caicos Islands tourism product.