New Bridge Coming for San Pedro
Affixed to the ongoing road rehabilitation project is the construction of a new bridge linking the north and south sides of the island. The town council has invested about half a million dollars into the current bridge which had deteriorated and was in need of repairs. Construction is due to begin at the end of December on the first phase of a two-lane crossing.
Wally Nunez
Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro Town
“The repairs when we came in, it roughly went about half a million dollars in just repairs so with that you can see how our revenue collection has been used. We have not only been paying bills, but we have been doing patch work all over the place. And apart from that, we have our plans to fix the street, rebuild the bridge and build a new bridge on the side. So the existing bridge, there was a lot of work done so we can buy time in order for us to do the new bridge which would be adjacent to it. We are going to have to work with the tour guides and tour operators because we might have to close the canal for a certain time of the day. We are doing the logistics of how it is going to work, but work should be starting before the new year so they are going to start the piling and everything that needs to be done before they start to do the work. But it will be a concrete bridge, full concrete. And once that is finished, we are going to divert the traffic to that side so that we can dismantle the old bridge and do it with concrete as well so then we are going to have like a two-lane. Before when we used to have the ferry that used to carry you across, it used to be a luxury to go up north. But now the amount of businesses that we have up north and secret beach that has been developing very fast – within the past six years secret beach went from nothing to what it is now so you can see the development increasing on the island especially in the north. And here in town, the space is limited so everything is expanding up north. So we know that businesses are going to be developing up north.”
