On Tuesday March 28, the Ministry of Works and Cisco Construction signed on to a contract that will see the upgrading of the second section of the Philip Goldson Highway from Buttonwood Bay to the Haulover Bridge.
The contract which amounts to BZ $20,899,031.40 will see the repaving of the road including widening it to accommodate 4 lanes of traffic. Additionally the shoulders will be widened with sidewalks and drains being installed as well as a median and an auxiliary lane for bus parking at designated areas of the road. Lights, signs, reflectors and road markings will also be installed along with other security features.
According to Francis Woods from Cisco Construction, work has already begun at this time it being concentrated in putting in place underground infrastructure for Belize Water Services Limited, Belize Telemedia Limited and Belize Electricity Limited.
In December of 2015 work commenced on the first section of road works between the junction of the Philip Goldson Airport road to the north side of the Haulover bridge. That work has progressed steadily and is at this time on its final stages before completion. Woods told the Guardian that it is anticipated that all work on that section will be completed by June of this year. That section of work cost 13.6 million dollars and includes the installation of retaining walls along the banks of the river as well as the widening of the road and installation of lights, signs, reflectors and other road markings.
Financing for the second section of road upgrade was made possible through a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank. The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Works – Project Execution Unit, while Beca International Consultants of New Zealand will provide technical supervision.
