Several VI gas stations are not complying with air hose law, leaving motorists scrambling

ST. CROIX — After recently popping a tire in a massive pothole while driving along Veterans Drive at night and replacing it with a spare, St. Thomas resident Andre Douglas realized he needed air, so he went to the nearest gas station — TotalEnergies in Estate Contant, also known as Gottlieb’s Quickway Service Station.

“When I went there, there was a plastic bag that was covering the actual air device, so that was out of order,” he said by phone while recounting his “frustrating” experience on the night of November 13. Douglas was not the only motorist at the service station that night. “There was about two cars in the Gottlieb parking lot that seemed like they were also in need of air,” he said.

The pothole has since been blocked by concerned citizens who posted a photograph and video on social media about their effort to place an orange barricade in front of it and a traffic cone inside it to prevent other motorists from blowing out a tire. Douglas, who had his 4-year-old daughter in the vehicle, continued driving east in search of another air pump. As he pulled onto Veterans Drive, he said four to five cars that fell into the same pothole he did were pulled over on either side of the road. He stopped at a second gas station, TotalEnergies near Frenchtown in Estate Honduras, but the air pump was also broken. He eventually found air at a third gas station — Puma in Frenchtown.