A public road is to be constructed from Chapel Hill, just down from the Bethel Methodist Church and Cemetery, to Sandy Ground where Road Bay provides one of the most arresting and magnificent views in Anguilla.
The one million Eastern Caribbean-dollar project, to be financed under the Government’s capital programme, is a long desire of the Minister of Infrastructure and Elected Representative of Road South, Mr. Curtis Richardson. He indicated to The Anguillian newspaper on Tuesday, November 5, that he was delighted with the approval of the project.
He stated that since his election in 2015 the Chapel Hill road was one of his proposed pet projects. As a matter of fact, his intention was to initiate and oversee the building of a number of roads, one a year. He observed, however, that the scarcity of funds and the challenges posed by the banking sector had negated his efforts.
On his list of roads have been, and continues to be, The Valley Road, a long-promised project by successive Governments; the Louis Price Gym Road; and the Lookout Road next to Romcan, among others.
The Chapel Hill Road, now being designed, will take in, to some extent, an original footpath often traversed by persons, over the years, to and from Sandy Ground. It will provide both a new and second access road, to relieve the traffic congestion on the existing roadway which, in addition to the Sandy Ground population, serves the busy main port of entry and the loading and offloading of bulk cargo. The new road will also provide relief to motor vehicle travelers during the Sandy Ground Beach Party – and the boat races associated with the Anguilla Summer Festival.
It is believed that the Chapel Hill Road earned its name from the fact that is adjacent to the historic Bethel Methodist Church which is perched on the hillside overlooking the scenic Sandy Ground and Road Bay Harbour.
It may be worth retelling a story about how the congregation, in a fit of excitement, rushed out of the church to Road Bay, in the nineteen hundreds, to welcome returning Anguillian workmen from Santo Domingo, thus leaving the Minister at the altar and abruptly ending his sermon.
