A Traffic-Jam-free Island
The Green Corridor and the Watty Vos Boulevard are the two biggest infrastructural challenges of the last fifty years on Aruba. For Marlon Croes, general manager of the Dienst Openbare Werken (the Public Works Department, DOW), it is clear; their construction will continue to affect him in the years to come. Both projects will contribute to a huge improvement of the traffic situation in and around Oranjestad.
Aruba is a small island’, Marlon Croes says when he starts to explain the importance of the construction of the Green Corridor and the Watty Vos Boulevard. ‘As a result, major problems with traffic jams occur on a daily basis. And a traffic jam is not productive. Spending half an hour a day in a traffic jam will negatively contribute to the Gross National Product. The Green Corridor and Watty Vos Boulevard will streamline traffic and shorten travel time. It’s an investment, but it will also make a huge contribution to the island’s productivity.’
According to the CEO of DOW, the core of the traffic problems lies in the excessive car ownership and car use on the island. The 110,000 inhabitants of the island own 77,000 cars in total. That is more than 700 cars per 1000 inhabitants. This number is extremely high in comparison with, for example, the hectic city of New York with 525 cars per 1,000 inhabitants. Even the Netherlands have a lower car density. When Croes started as General Manager on March 1, 2014, he took up the challenge and decided to solve the problems.
Electrical engineer
His previous duties at DOW prepared him for this task. His history with this department, which falls under the Ministry of Infrastructure, dates back to 1989. After his study in the Netherlands, he returned to Aruba and started to work for the department.
It was his intention to stay longer and gain more experience, but because of personal reasons he had to return. The fact that he was hired by DOW as a project employee was partly due to a substantial changeover and retraining he had undertaken in the Netherlands. Croes had a passion for electrical engineering but when he completed the MTS in the early 1980s, the government announced that there was no need for higher skilled electricians in Aruba. Croes looking for ways to further his studies, learned that there was a need for traffic experts on the Island. ‘I had no idea what it meant and I eventually went to the Netherlands as a blank slate.’ There he underwent not only a thorough retraining but also a mentality change. ‘In electrical engineering, the rule of thumb is: to measure is to know. In traffic engineering, business, communication, psychology, law, and the environment this rule is just as important as in engineering. At first, I found it very difficult to adjust my way of thinking.’
Pushing boundaries
Nowadays, he finds it ‘fascinating’ to shift boundaries and bring the infrastructure to a higher level. Fortunately, his former superiors at DOW gave him free rein to get to know the service and to present his ideas. His unconventional vision
impressed them. Shortly after his entrance into the department, for example, he solved a major bottleneck at the roundabout at the Cas di Cultura in Oranjestad. ‘The Aruban community was focused on traffic lights and the traffic on the roundabout was regulated by the priority rule to give way to the right, which resulted in traffic jams.’ Croes came up with the solution to remove the traffic lights and give priority to traffic on the roundabout. It took him a few months to convince his executives, but in the end they decided in his favor. It was the beginning of the construction of several roundabouts to make dangerous crossings safer. ‘The island is now full of roundabouts, but it’s working well,’ Croes says.
And he has the numbers on his side. In the past, Aruba recorded about twenty-five traffic victims a year. This year, only two fatal accidents have been noted. That is why the Watty Vos Boulevard, which leads around the center of Oranjestad and joins the Green Corridor, has several roundabouts.
“When I started at DOW almost thirty years ago, we could close a road without anyone making a fuss about it”
Final Solution
For Croes, the Green Corridor, the expansion, renovation, and construction of the new main road between Reina Beatrix and San Nicolas airport, and the Watty Vos Boulevard, the new four-way road around Oranjestad, connecting the Sabana Blanco and Punta Brabo intersections, are the final solution to the traffic problems in Oranjestad. ‘Research has shown that sixty five percent of the traffic in Playa is in transit. When the Boulevard and the Green Corridor are ready, the traffic will be redirected and the problem solved’, Croes substantiates his statement. But we have to be patient. The Green Corridor needs to be in working order in November 2017 and the completion of the Watty Vos Boulevard is scheduled for August 2019. Responsible for the construction and subsequent maintenance of the Green Corridor and the Watty Vos Boulevard are, respectively, the companies Grupo Odinsa and Mota-Engil. They provided the best prospects when they signed up for the so-called Private Public Partnership (PPP). It is a good construction, according to Croes.
The private companies are responsible for building and maintenance for the duration of the maintenance contracts of eighteen and twenty years.
The government only pays an accessibility fee.
Future challenges
However, DOW also has some concerns during the construction phase. That is why Croes calls the construction of both roads the largest infrastructure projects of the last fifty years. ‘When I started at DOW almost thirty years ago, we could close a road without anyone making a fuss about it,’ explains Croes. ‘Nowadays, the community with all its social media is a lot more critical and we need to explain what we do and why.’ For Croes it is a positive challenge that his work, besides the technical aspects, presently also includes strong social skills. ‘That keeps us sharp.’ So much so that transparency, better communication, and offering the best service will be the spearheads of his policy for the coming years. ‘By 2020, DOW must have made a cultural change,’ he states. At the same time, he wants to transform the often too expensive corrective maintenance culture into a preventive one.
And there is more to keep him busy in the future. The road network might be finished for the next thirty years after the two megaprojects are completed, but there are still other major challenges. The water supply for example. There are three water treatment plants on the island and Croes is ‘not happy’ with the plants, to say the least. ‘On the plant at Bubali we use Afl.1.2 million for electricity per plant a year and Afl. 1.6 million for burning sludge. That needs to change.’ Therefore, he wants to turn the expensive water treatment plants into sustainable and environmentally friendly ‘power plants’.
‘We are currently investigating how we can improve the plants. The preparation of the call for tenders will take place in 2018 and the public tender is scheduled for 2019. People are enthusiastic about the plans. That’s why I keep doing this work with so much pleasure. We have a good team and together we can achieve a lot and make the island a better place.’