And as the bridge construction continues, so will work on the George Price Highway upgrading project. Today, MIDH sent out a notice to the general public that as the construction from Belize city to Hattieville is progressing, memorials and road signs will need to be removed. Removals must be completed by June 12.
The Chief Engineer explained:
Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer - MIDH
"So as you're aware, we have commenced works on the George Price Highway, lot one, which is from Belize City to Hattieville. And at this point in time, we have the contractor Cisco Construction Limited working in three locations. They're working between Western Avenue and Fabers Road. They're also working near the Old Belize location, which is about mile four to five. And they're also working near the airboats, which is near mile eight to 10. And so in an effort to ensure that we have provided the highway clear for the contractor, we need to ensure that all business signs that are located within the official road reserve and also the memorials that have been placed there by individuals that have had family members that have passed along the highway, we're kindly asking them to remove those signs and memorials within 30 days in an effort to give them that opportunity to do so on their own. If that is not done within this period that we have allotted, more than likely the ministry will have to take the initiative to ask the contractor to remove them. However, we wanted to give that opportunity to the businesses and individuals to do that first for us."
"Along the George Price Highway, we have approximately a hundred feet of road reserve. The contractor will not be using that entire hundred feet. However, during the setting out process, he will maximize on that reserve that is there. And so we don't want to disturb those memorials. We want them to be outside of our working area. And for that to happen, it will have to be on private property. So at this point in time, because the highway is officially ours, we want to make sure that it is cleared so that we could give the contractor sufficient space for him to work."
"It's a lot because it seems as though over the years where accidents have occurred, families have installed these memorials along the highway without taking into consideration where they are located. And so now that we're working to improve the highway and we need that space, we have to ask them to move. Over the years, you've also have businesses that have installed signs, which officially these signs needs to be approved by the chief engineer of the MIDH to allow individuals to place signs along the highway. In areas where that has been done, we're still asking those businesses to remove those signs at this point in time."
"And if the need arises after the project has completed, then they will have to reapply for those signs to be reinstated."
