Reader David Knowles asks about road striping: "A while back the lieutenant governor (Gregory Francis) and the DPW (Department of Public Works) made a big deal about STX getting a new machine to paint lane markers on the roads. I saw some lines near Salt River and the new Scenic Road but nowhere else. Did the machine get broken? Did they forget to buy paint? The cross walks desperately need to be painted and signs to yield to pedestrians."
The Source caught up with Assistant Public Works Commissioner Roberto Cintron Thursday and asked about the status of road striping since the department received two new striping machines last July. During a recess in Senate committee hearings on his nomination to the V.I. Board of Land Use Appeals, Cintron said the new striping machine is great and fast on newly paved roads. But a lot of the striping that needs to be done is on older, rutted roads and on those roads the new machines would leave a more squiggly line. So for most roads, the department uses walk-behind machines, which offer more control but work more slowly, he said. Those machines are being used now for work at Bassin Triangle. Striping is also generally done at night to avoid interfering with traffic, he said.
For more specific detail, Cintron referred questions to Deputy Commissioner of Transportation Karole Ovesen-McGregor. Messages were left for Ovesen-McGregor at her office on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday, she spoke briefly with the Source and mentioned the work being done at Bassin Triangle. She said she was in the midst of a conference call and would call back when she had a moment.
