Department of Public Works

The territory's road network

The USVI's road network spans three islands across 133.73 square miles of territory. St. Croix — the largest island at approximately 84 square miles — has the most extensive road network, including portions of the territory's only significant highway-grade roads. St. Thomas, despite being smaller, has a dense road network shaped by its mountainous terrain. St. John has the smallest network, with significant portions unpaved.

DPW manages road maintenance, reconstruction, drainage, and traffic safety across all three islands. Most major road projects are co-funded through the Federal Highway Administration's Emergency Relief program (post-disaster) or the regular federal-aid highway program, with DPW serving as the implementing agency. "We hear every single day on the radio, 'What are these senators doing about the roads?'" Senator Novelle Francis said at the FY2025 budget hearing — a line that captures the daily political reality DPW operates in.

The USVI is getting addresses for the first time

For most of the territory's history, properties have been identified by Estate names and plot numbers — a system inherited from the Danish colonial era that is not sequential, not standardized, and nearly impossible for GPS systems, delivery companies, or emergency responders to navigate reliably. The Street Addressing Initiative (SAI) is changing that.

The SAI is described as "the largest infrastructure project in modern Virgin Islands history" — led by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor through its GIS Division, with DPW as a key partner for sign fabrication and installation. When complete, the USVI will be the first U.S. territory and the first Caribbean jurisdiction to have a fully standardized address system with a Master Address Repository.

Funded with $5.09 million through the VI Housing Finance Authority's CDBG-DR program, plus an additional $2.3 million for street signage including illuminated highway signs, residential signs, and neighborhood markers.

Why this matters beyond addresses

Emergency response: When 911 is called from a property without a standardized address, dispatchers rely on landmarks and local knowledge. A standardized address grid means E911 can route responders using GPS — potentially saving lives.

Deliveries and commerce: UPS, FedEx, and USPS all struggle with USVI estate-and-plot addresses. Businesses lose customers when packages can't be reliably delivered. The new system enables full postal delivery expansion to areas previously underserved.

Federal programs: FEMA, HUD, and other federal agencies use address data to allocate recovery funding, verify eligibility, and track project completion. Without standardized addresses, the territory's $25 billion recovery pipeline faced systemic data quality problems.

Property records: Note — your plot number does not change. The Tax Assessor retains existing plot numbers for property ownership, tax assessment, and billing. The new address exists alongside the old plot number, not in place of it.

450 tons of garbage. Every day. Two overflowing landfills.

The USVI generates approximately 450–500 tons of solid waste every day. That waste goes to two landfills — Bovoni on St. Thomas and Anguilla on St. Croix — both of which are well past the point where they were supposed to close. The EPA ordered both facilities to either close or come into federal compliance by 2022. Neither has closed. The crisis is structural: the territory imports 99%+ of everything it consumes, which generates packaging waste at rates far exceeding what a small island population can sustainably manage.