July 15, 2006 – Effective Sunday parking along the roadway adjacent to the pond on the eastern side of the Red Hook road will be prohibited.
Island Roads, the contractor for the new Red Hook Marine Terminal, will be installing guardrails along the public roadway beginning Monday, according to a release from the V.I. Port Authority.
Estimates indicate this could displace as many as 50 vehicles that park along the road. The closure of the former lot where the new terminal is being constructed, along with the private construction taking place across the street where parking was formerly available, have eliminated hundreds of parking spots near the ferry dock.
In June 2005, VIPA Director Darlan Brin said East End Taxi, which operated the lot adjacent to the terminal, had agreed to set up another lot west of the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School across from the entrance to the National Park dock and was being encouraged to run shuttles from the lot to the ferry dock a half mile away. (See "Red Hook Parking Lot to Close Monday"). Currently there is a fenced area where cars can park west of the school. There is no attendant and no shuttle service, however.
The lack of parking in Red Hook for the ferry dock had reached crisis proportions even before the two adjacent lots closed. Increased construction on St. John has required a lot of people to commute daily – taxing the area's limited parking resources.
Even though the parking area by Eudora Kean is free, it is at least a 10-minute walk from there to the ferry.
Some motorists tempt fate by parking illegally in the nearby retail center lots at American Yacht Harbor, Red Hook Center and Marina Market. Many end up booted or towed.
Attempts to obtain further information from Brin this week about potential solutions and when and if parking will be available at the terminal area again were unsuccessful.
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