Traffic congestion built up along Seafarers Way on Monday morning as Cayman saw the return of its first cruise ship in two years.
Motorists found themselves in bumper-to-bumper traffic as the port came alive with tour buses, tour operators and tourists converging on the Royal Watler Cruise Terminal for the 7:45am arrival of the ship.
However, Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan, speaking with the Cayman Compass Monday, said traffic will be managed as more cruise shippers return to Cayman.
“We’re going to be keeping a close eye on anything that we need to improve today. So when we have more ships, we can be prepared that it doesn’t affect us in any negative way,” he said.
The minister suggested that he did not expect to see traffic as a “big deal” on Monday as it was only one ship in port and they would be out of the area fairly quickly, given the early hour.
“I’m happy to say that with a small ship, with a medium sized ship, with only one ship, there will be an easier [traffic] flow than normal… I don’t think there’s going to be a major feel of difference in respect to traffic. By the time that morning traffic is over, they probably wouldn’t even be off yet,” he said.
However, for those on the road Monday morning, the closure of Cardinall Avenue may have also compounded the volume of people in the George Town Harbour area. That closure is part of the ongoing George Town revitalisation project.
Also adding to the congestion is the closure of a portion of West Bay Road to facilitate ongoing roadworks.
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, in a statement earlier this month, announced the return of community officers to the waterfront, partially to help manage the increased number of tourists.
It also stated that the RCIPS Community Policing Unit have been gradually increasing patrols in traditionally high volume visitor areas, such as the Seven Mile Beach corridor and in the Eastern Districts.
“The coming weeks will see the return of the familiar faces of RCIPS Community Police officers assisting with managing vehicle and pedestrian traffic in the waterfront area of George Town, particularly Seafarers Way and South & North Church Streets. The officers will once again be helping visitors navigate their way around George Town safely, while giving them a little taste of Cayman Kind; helping to lessen the impact on residents commuting and working in the area; while supporting business owners in managing the arrival of customers,” the RCIPS had said.
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How does Mr Bryan propose to “manage” traffic when we get 4 or 5 cruise ships in one day?. With Cardinal Ave a key arterial road in central GT permanently closed we are facing gridlock as has been seen in the past, but this time on a daily basis, not just for one day when a special event closed the road for one day.
One cruise ship with 1,500 passengers (we weren’t told how many actually came ashore) and already we have a traffic jam. What’s going to happen Wednesday when 2 ships with a capacity of over 6,000 passengers arrive?
Of course, it may only be a moot point because according to a Compass article only two weeks ago:
“David Carmichael, business manager of Caribbean Marine Services, which operates the tender boats that take passengers from the cruise ships to shore and back, told the Compass that staffing levels at the company mean it can currently only handle about 3,000 passengers a day.”
“The numbers of cruise passengers arriving into Cayman on some days in March and April look likely to far exceed 3,000 people. On 6 April, for example, which according to the Port Authority ship schedule will be the busiest day of the first phase of cruise resumption, three ships carrying up to 11,494 passengers are slated to arrive, including the Carnival Vista with a capacity of 4,977 passengers.”
Such a pity that the. Govt didn’t come up with a sustainable tourism plan during the past two years… Simply limiting the cruise ships to one or two per day would be a good start. I know you can’t keep everyone happy all the time…. But why on earth do we need more than two cruise ships in at any one time. The roads are already clogged. We don’t have Royal Palms. The south end of SMB is gone or intermittent….. Where are all these people going to go… Come on CIG!!
Well said Joanna. Seems after 2 years this would have been addressed more closely so there would be minimal amount of traffic frustration for Caymanians and negative impact on the environment. How can the Government have missed this opportunity to right such a big wrong??