Bermuda’s infrastructure saw a reckoning this year, with the Government attempting to patch up a crumbling island.

Roads, which were criticised in 2023 for being poorly paved, slowly rebuilt and filled with potholes, were severely flooded during periods of torrential rain in hurricane season.

Areas such as Middle Road near the back roads to the Fairmont Southampton were virtually underwater, while St John’s Road and Bakery Lane in Pembroke saw their typical traffic-freezing flooding.

Many took to social media to record or complain about the situations, which often left worse potholes in their wake.

The growing consensus blamed poor drainage as the culprit — so much so that Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, had to address it.

The presence of potholes even contributed to a 7 per cent spike in automobile sales and services during the first ten months of the year.

Problems with road infrastructure did not stop at the pavement themselves — the repairs on a portion of St John’s Road, which collapsed last year after a truck tumbled down an embankment, was a temporary victory after the traffic lights at its Cedar Avenue intersection stopped working just two months later.

The Department of Public Works said it caused by a driver crashing into a control panel.

A shipping problem caused repair delays in October, and as of the time of publishing, the lights still have not been fixed — nor has there been any update on when they will be.

Outside the other edge of Hamilton, the stoplights by the East Broadway roundabout malfunctioned in October after torrential rain short-circuited the wiring in its control box.

Replacement parts for this control box were hard to source because of the age of the lighting system.

Off the roads, private and public buildings fell into disrepair to the point where they could not be used.

Parliament Building was deemed too internally unsafe, forcing Parliament to sit in an alternative building and requiring the Supreme Court, which used to hold trials on its ground level, to squeeze hearings into courtrooms in the Dame Lois Browne-Evans Building.

A contractor was hired in December to fix the leaky roof and faulty fixtures at Government House on Langton Hill after repairs stalled two years ago.

Although funds were collected over the years, the Governor was forced to move out of the property in September 2023 as a safety precaution. The lawns of Government House have continued to be used for some official functions.

The Department of Public Works was given a $3.47 million boost during the Midyear Budget Review in October.

The majority of the cash injection, about $2.87 million, was reserved for capital works and large infrastructural projects.

The rest would go to projects such as housing facilities, and taming vegetation on the Railway Trail and tribe roads.

Other infrastructural projects went towards replacing a cracked seawall on Mill Creek, Pembroke, and fixing a buckling retaining wall along Scaur Hill in Sandys.

Work on Spurling Hill had been carried out to upgrade the traffic lights at the road’s intersection, revamp the sidewalk and even add pedestrian crossing.

The project finished on schedule, but was met with a backlash after some motorists complained about the new pedestrian island.

Dwayne Caines, the chief executive of the City of Hamilton, which oversaw the repairs, defended the island when he said that it made crossing the road safer for those with mobility problems.

Two of Bermuda’s largest beachfront hotels — Ariel Sands in Devonshire and the Fairmont Southampton — continued renovations throughout the year.

Ground broke for the Southampton hotel renovations at the start of the year after several months of controversy. The hotel, which has been shut since 2020, is not expected to reopen until the end of 2025.

Ariel Sands is expected to be completed in the coming year, this time with a facelift amid eager anticipation.

The two hotels make up about 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the island’s holiday beds, making their return to the market an eagerly anticipated boost to the tourism industry.

But confusion swarmed around the planned Bermudiana Beach Resort hotel in Warwick after the Government pulled out of the deal in October.

The boutique hotel, which holds 94 units, would have been run by the Hilton Group and was scheduled to open next year.

Colonel Burch explained that the complex, which had been developed over five years at a cost of more than $100 million, had been hit by “an incredible set of circumstances” that included the Covid pandemic and rising inflation.

Colonel Burch said that the cost of essential building supplies such as concrete and steel had risen by about 50 per cent.

Instead, he said that the EY financial services group offered four proposals for the property — stick with the existing model, sell units individually as condominiums, run the property as a standard boutique hotel, or convert units into residential rental apartments. The Government chose the fourth option.

Colonel Burch said: “This was a difficult decision, as much effort was placed into converting the property into a hotel.

“But when presented with the data and the expert advice, the Government chose to change course yet again — but one that we believe is in the best interest of the country and one that will prove beneficial to the economy in the long term.”