From “tunnel vision” to real solution, Marlin says father’s road plan fits today’s traffic gridlock

GREAT BAY--With the island locked in chronic gridlock and little relief expected before the height of the tourist season passes in several months, former MP and community leader Cloyd “Ohndhae” Marlin on Tuesday questioned government's short and long-term vision for traffic alleviation and recalled a road network plan first advanced by his father, former Prime Minister and Minister of VROMI William Marlin, almost thirteen years ago.

"As the son of a visionary leader, I have watched St. Maarten grapple with the same traffic nightmares that plagued our roads a decade ago. Today, with gridlock choking our causeway and backups turning commutes into marathons, we look back at my father, the Hon. William Marlin’s strong support for the road network plan and realize it was not folly, it was foresight. What political critics dismissed as “tunnel vision” has proven to be the blueprint we desperately needed then and more so now."

Across the island, residents are spending more than an hour in traffic on a normal day, and often well over two hours. People arrive home drained, with less energy and patience for family, homework, planning for the next day or even a proper meal. The frustration they carry through the door spills into the household, then follows them back to work the next morning, where low morale and fatigue suppress productivity. "This is not simply a road management problem, it is a quality of life crisis," he said.

Recently social media posts and travel site reviews increasingly describe St. Maarten as beautiful but “exhausting” because of the traffic, with tourists warning friends and family to expect long delays just to get from hotel to beach, or from the airport to their accommodations. That is a serious reputational risk for a country that sells itself as a premier, convenient destination. "In the middle of all of this, the government has offered no clear public communication on short term relief, no concrete proposals to ease congestion, and certainly no long term mobility vision for a growing economy that depends on reliable movement of people, goods and services."

Against that backdrop, Marlin says it is time to revisit what critics once mocked as “tunnel vision,” but which he frames as the kind of forward planning the island is now missing. "Back in 2013, as Minister of VROMI, my father outlined to the Council of Ministers a transformative infrastructure push. Later on he openly criticized the Causeway as the Bridge to nowhere and called for plans to connect the Causeway to a tunnel with one exit in the area of Cake House Supermarket on the L.B. Scott Road which would then connect to Link 2 and Link 3 and the other exit which would be in the St. Peters area and from there traffic would connect to Link 6 across from St. Dominic School and take you straight down to the border in the Dutch Quarter Belvedere area. "

"The tunnels would seriously slash traffic congestion around the causeway. The idea was to realize the tunnels with absolutely no burden to the taxpayer, just smart investment in our island’s mobility. He envisioned a network that would ease the daily strain on families, businesses, and our economy, declaring it essential to “alleviate the back-up of traffic in several areas of the island.”

The plan was to realize the tunnels through a Build, Own and Operate concept. The developer would build the tunnels and connecting roads, own the tunnels through a concession for an agreed upon number of years and operate them through a concession. Vehicles using the tunnels would pay a toll just like is done all over the world. Both Chinese and Brazilian investors had shown great interest in the plans. "St. Maarten tax payers and Government owned companies, airport, harbour and Gebe would not foot the bill, a win for progress without indenture. William Marlin did not just talk; he planned for the boom we now live in, where tourism swells and roads buckle," he said.

he explained that this model anticipated exactly the tourism growth with record arrivals pressing on an infrastructure grid that has barely evolved. It was designed, he continued, to shift the burden away from taxpayers and government companies, yet still give residents and businesses access to faster, more reliable routes.

"The then-opposition sneered. “Tunnel vision,” they called it, a pipe dream from a dreamer. Fast-forward to today: they are in government, and where is the vision. Potholes multiply, drainage fails, and our causeway remains a bottleneck, with no tunnels in sight despite endless promises. MP Darryl York recently demanded updates from the current VROMI Minister on our crumbling infrastructure, echoing the frustration my father foresaw. As a local news network reported just weeks ago, flood vulnerabilities and road decay persist, leaving residents “waiting”. True vision builds bridges and tunnels for tomorrow; short-sightedness builds excuses," Marlin said.

Today, he noted, even some of the political voices and supporters who once publicly rejected the tunnel concept are quietly acknowledging that the idea was not so far fetched after all. In private conversations and social media commentary, elements of the same plan are resurfacing as if newly discovered, even as the architect of that vision is rarely credited.

"I shared my father’s dream from the start. As his campaign manager, and now as a community leader and politician, I carry that torch, looking for initiatives that unite us toward real solutions. On June 24, 2023, at my campaign launch in Dutch Quarter, Dad passed me the baton, his “black book” of wisdom, urging me to fight for the Sint Maarten he loves. He taught me politics is not just about power; it is about power to serve your people. And today, as traffic strangles our progress, his words ring true: prepare now, or pay later."

In Marlin’s view, the country is firmly in the “pay later” phase, with families, workers and visitors paying in time, stress and lost opportunity. Five more months of peak tourism under current conditions means five more months of daily strain, frayed tempers and negative online narratives about St. Maarten’s congestion.

"Leaders with true vision do not mock the horizon; they pave the way to it. The opposition of yesterday became the government of today, but without my father’s clarity, they are lost in the fog. St. Maarten deserves better. Let us revive that road network plan, build those tunnels, and honor the man who saw our future when others saw only shadows. It is time to turn tunnel vision into our reality," he concluded.

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