More city streets to be under repair; commuters to pay inbound toll
The Belize City streets are undergoing major repair works but that is the source of frustration to motorists who have through a maze to get their destination. As part of the Belize City Municipal Bond a number of streets have been resurfaced and, in most cases, completely rebuilt. While the total number remains on the rise Mayor Darrell Bradley is setting his sights on another project which he hopes will generate much needed revenue for the city but will put a dent in pockets of vehicle owners. In the upcoming weeks the section of the Phillip Goldson Highway, from the Flag Monument to the approach to the Haulover Bridge, will be fully concretized which may mean that the artery connecting the north side and south side may be closed to vehicular traffic. To finance that project however, commuters will be required to pay an inbound toll. Mayor Bradley told us more about the upcoming endeavors.
Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor
“We are doing significant upgrades in terms of the street construction project which is funded by the Belize City Municipal Bond and at present we are at, the count is at fifty streets. We hope that we would be at a hundred streets by December of this year. We have significant works going on in the Lake Independence Area. We’re on Oleander Street, Tibruce Street, Jasmine Street. We have several other works going on in that area, [on] Monday we’re going to start Lawrence Avenue, which is a street I know that’s dear to your heart. We’ve just waited anxiously for BWS to move off the street. They’ve given us the sign-off on Friday so Monday Maheia’s Construction will go in there and they will commence their works. They are already doing preparatory works and we want to continue to move aggressively so we are on target to be able to accomplish our goal by the end of the year. We’re going to see a lot of major projects being unveiled in the very near future. We are meeting, we’ve already done the preliminary work, the financial and feasibility studies to be able to concrete the Northern Highway from Haulover Bridge to the Flag Monument and that’s a project that we mean to get started within the next six weeks. It requires a lot of planning, a lot of surveys. They are consulting in terms of the drainage and where the water will flow so we had hoped that that project would have been started already but the technical specifications are being developed and what we mean to do is we’re going to fund that through a revenue bond. We have proposed in our manifesto some sort of commuter tax and essentially what we are looking at if we can do something like a toll along the Northern Highway which will be an inbound toll, a one dollar inbound toll and that toll itself would fund the whole restoration of that project.”
Bradley will just keep going until he runs out of other people’s money to spend.
Putting any toll on commuters offends me, unless he puts it to a vote of the people. History says once a toll goes into place, it will never come off, even long after the project is paid for many times over.
Has anyone studied how much a toll booth will back up traffic on that busiest highway? Forget the money, it sounds like a permanent traffic jam is being planned.
Will the Mayor please provide the Belizean public with an accountability of all funds he has received from Central Government (Subventions), property taxes, revenues from all licenses, the bonds, inter alia before he starts levying a an extra tax, a toll essentially. We want to see how current funds are being used. Don’t treat the people like stupids. Let’s who is benefitting from our taxes. We hope it is not his friends and cronies.
Yes those who drive/use the road should pay for it instead of those of us who have no car and walk. Why i should pay extra for you to drive in style? I more concerned about the garbage and crime and how the neighbourhood look and job creation and education for the youth. I mean the street look nice and i glad for that but my garbage tax should be for removal of it etc.
maybe this is good if it will now force someone to watch all those ladyville crime cars that zoom in and out of city-they now have to stop-pay a fee and get observed. It should be job of collector to call police etc for suspicious characters
If they put a toll going in maybe Ladyville can collect a toll for exiting traffic and get it paved to Ladyville lol
A toll into Belize City from the Ladyville is ridiculous. It would cause an already infuriating morning commute to become downright intolerable. Has the mayor ever tried to get his kids to school in Belize City from Ladyville ontime in the mornings? Does he realize that having people stuck in traffic results in a loss to the economy? For a toll to work, traffic conditions have to first be reasonably fluid, which means 4 lanes between Haulover and Ladyville.
Do you realize how much traffick will back up on the highways?
Do you know how much fuel you will spend having to wait in lines a lot longer? So you ll pay toll, and more taxes in gas. Win win for GOB and City Council.
Perhaps they should charge an environmental fee as well because, well more cars backed up will create air and soil pollution from emissions and oil leaks.
I always thought the idea of stimulating business activities will pay for these sorts of things if the flow of goods and services increased, instead of levying ridiculous taxes. So its up to the PUPs to tell everyone they will remove the Toll, reduce business tax and stabilize fuel and electricity to allow economic growth, and win! Pushing down a pill down someones throat if they dont want will prove costly to Darrell and his crew, especially when the Central party has a sick leader and a corrupt and vindictive deputy. No matta what kinda work u put in, people will vote for the philosophy not the street!
For all of you that’s ..itching n complaining about paying a toll, you probably haven’t been anywhere outside the Jewel where you just pay the thing, and go bout yuh business.
Was it not ‘Your’ Father of Independence, the architect of the peaceful constructive Belizean revolution that said, “progress brings problems”?
In other words he was saying, you cannot have your cake and eat it. Either you’ll have roads with moon- like craters in it, or you’ll pay a small fee and keep it maintained. It’s that simple……Simon.
Does this over ambitious mayor realize that cement streets cannot accomodate high speed vehicular traffic? the traction on cement is not good for highspeeds especially in rainy weather,it is ok for slower moving traffic within city limits but for higher speeds that will be reached on the highway its not a good idea. He should be more concerned about the drainage problem caused by these cement streets in the city, everytime we get heavy rains Ive noticed that the flood levels are higher than they were before the cement streets were built
Why is it that only Belize City is getting the big face lift. What about other parts of the country. Most of the tax dollars are coming from business outside of the city. What are we getting?
Gee, on top of all this, another media source reported that some of the newly cemented streets are already crumbling, and the city has NO LICENSED ENGINEER — as required by law! — to certify them. Streets paid to last 40 years aren’t lasting 40 weeks!
So inferior materials, inferior workmanship, no professional oversight = theft of public money. CAN YOU SAY HUGE SCANDAL?
why you think he says he might not go for reelction, he concedes that their is not enough and adequate supervision, in the stuctural and technical area. whatyou think of the financial area. yet he is going full speed ahead, BTL park and Northern highway. by the time we do audit and find money missing and the cement start to crack Darellitas living in San Fran cool, cool,.
Got to commend this guy. Never seen such a DOER in local government before. It’s refreshing. Kudos Mayor. You give me hope.