You probably don't need us to tell you that the Northern Highway has a major pothole problem, like the blues man sang, "she was born bad" and the road exists now in an almost permanent state of disrepair. But, the news tonight is that the stretch of highway between the Biltmore Hotel and the Rotary Roundabout has gone from being inconvenient to just plain dangerous. Today we tried to find out what's wrong and what can be done to fix it.
Keith Swift Reporting,
It's the most trafficked entrance to Belize City but lately this major highway has become a major mess, as it's been overtaken by potholes and smothered in dust. In fact the 6oo meter stretch of the highway between Friendship Restaurant and the Biltmore Hotel now looks more like a feeder road than a highway, with cars swerving and zigzagging all across both lanes of the road to avoid the craterous potholes. City Councilor in charge of streets Anthony Michael says the stretch is in city limits but it is not City Hall's responsibility.
Anthony Michael, City Councilor
"I would like to be made clearly that responsibility of the Northern Central American Boulevard and the Western Highway is responsibility solely for the Ministry of Works Department and not the responsibility of the Belize City Council."
Michael says the highway has deteriorated because of years of neglect. He says he has advised government's chief engineer that filling the gaping potholes with sand and gravel - which is why you don't see many holes today - is useless and it may even be counterproductive.
Anthony Michael,
"I told him that the patching and such that is going on the Northern
Highway is not the best solution. The road needs to be elevated at least another ten inches or a foot from presently where it is and to be totally, totally resurfaced. This is a total shame and embarrassment on central government. This is the entrance to our city, this is the Northern Highway. Tourists, visitors, and our residents of Belize City they are traveling on this road and it's breaking up their vehicles. Tourists are probably questioning what kind of government we have dealing with a highway in this kind of situation."
It is a situation councilor Michael says the city council is ready to tackle but they'll need both money and authority from central government.
Anthony Michael,
"If they want us to fix this highway and they don't have the time to do it, the Belize City Council is prepared to do it. Let them give us the money to fix the highway and we will prove to them in two weeks that we could fix the highway."
This evening government's Chief Engineer Cadet Henderson told us that help is on the way. He says that as early as Monday, work will begin to upgrade the portion of the Northern Highway between Buttonwood Bay Boulevard and Brodies' Supermarket. Henderson says the plan is to lift the highway one foot higher. $300,000 has already been allocated and Henderson says they are currently stockpiling materials to begin work shortly. According to Henderson the holdup is because they cannot gather sufficient material from the quarry.
