SMUGGLERS COVE PROJECT: TRAFFIC ISSUES
A proposal has been made to construct a villa and hotel complex on a 12 acre property on the western portion of Smugglers Cove.
The proposal is to construct 22 villas "of 2, 3 or 4 guest rooms each", and 15 hotel suites "of one or two guest rooms each", putting the total number of guest rooms in the 91 to 98 range.
The proposal is to upgrade the road around Steele Point, and to make this the main access road for the project, both during construction, and later for guests. However, in all probability, because of the very difficult terrain, it will be impractical to establish a two way road system around Steele Point. If there is only a one way system, it will mean that all construction traffic "and some guest traffic" must enter or leave through the Belmont Estate and Long Bay resort roads. The existing traffic bottlenecks at the West End ferry dock, in front of the houses between the ferry and the start of the Steele Point road, and in front of the Long Bay and Sebastians resorts, is a matter of concern for both safety and environmental reasons. These issues will need to be addressed.
An Environmental Impact Assessment report has been carried out, and in part deals with traffic issues. While this report does not address traffic during construction phase, as noted above, it is very likely that large truck will use the roads (Steele Point and Long Bay) as a one-way system. This means that many (perhaps over 20) large trucks per day will pass through these bottlenecks.
After construction, the report estimates the following number of trips to the site "pages 52-53":
Guest cars..................... 48 trips
Workers....................... 52 trips
Bus............................ 16 trips
Taxis........................... 100 trips
Restaurant/bar.................. 50 trip
TOTAL trips / day..... 266 trips
Although the EIA report considers "page 53" that these traffic flows "should not be an issue", this is a very general statement, one that should be considered in specific contexts, such as at the bottlenecks at the West End ferry dock, and at the Long Bay and Sebastians Resorts. In addition, some of the traffic will take the steep Zion Hill route, and pass the Capoons Bay primary school, and the Zion Hill Methodist church. All of these locations pose serious safety issues for pedestrians, cars and trucks alike.
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