PHILIPSBURG:--- Building additional roads will not solve St Maarten’s worsening traffic congestion unless the government also reforms public transportation, vehicle policies and the way existing roads are used, Minister of VROMI Patrice Gumbs Jr. said Wednesday.
Gumbs said government must first make more efficient use of the existing road network before committing major amounts of public money to new roads.
The minister pointed to the Simpson Bay Causeway as an example of infrastructure intended to reduce congestion, but that could not permanently solve the problem without accompanying policy changes.
“We’ve just bandaged it with a new road,” Gumbs said.
He warned that building new roads while maintaining the same transportation, traffic-use and vehicle-import policies would eventually reproduce the same congestion.
The minister said UNOPS experts had advised government to maximize its current infrastructure before proceeding to large-scale road expansions.
That process includes a carrying-capacity study by the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication and a complementary mobility initiative involving UNOPS.
According to Gumbs, the TEATT study is intended to determine the country’s carrying capacity and assess how much more pressure its infrastructure can accommodate. UNOPS would subsequently examine possible physical infrastructure interventions.
The minister also identified the number of vehicles using Sint Maarten’s limited road network as “the elephant in the room.”
However, he said government cannot properly address private vehicle numbers until the country develops a reliable public transportation system.
“The lack of a public transportation system that’s reliable forces us all to have additional cars,” Gumbs said.
Government must also examine the number of bus and taxi licenses in circulation, he added. Gumbs cautioned that flooding the market with permits could damage the livelihoods of operators already working in the sector.
Among the shorter-term traffic proposals under discussion are the possible realignment of roads in Cole Bay and measures to improve traffic flow around Clem Labega Square.
The Cole Bay proposal received critical responses from the community, Gumbs acknowledged. The plan was intended to address the daily congestion between Cole Bay and Simpson Bay, but the objections are now being considered.
Discussions are also continuing about opening and eventually completing the Ring Road, although Gumbs described that as a longer-term undertaking.
The minister said government’s available capital expenditure funding had already been spent. A new request for capital funding can be made after the 2026 budget amendment is approved by Parliament.
Gumbs maintained that expanding the road network remains a valid long-term objective, but said the government must first establish policies capable of preventing new infrastructure from becoming congested shortly after construction.
Without public transportation reform, vehicle controls and proper traffic enforcement, Sint Maarten risks spending millions of guilders on new roads without resolving the underlying causes of its traffic crisis.
