If you want to avoid traffic - Western Avenue is usually the quickest way into or out of the city from the Western Highway – and because of this prominent role, pretty soon it will be Western Boulevard. Its width has been doubled from 22 to 50 feet, it has been resurfaced and a median will be built. Minister of Works Anthony “Boots” Martinez toured the area this morning and he told us why western avenue is an important artery.
Anthony “Boots” Martinez, Minister of Works
“It’s a very important artery to the city, in and out of the city. So it’s a ease of a lot traffic for people going towards over the bridge on the Northern Highway.”
Keith Swift,
What was the condition of the road prior to this work?
Anthony “Boots” Martinez,
“It was narrow and it was terrible, it was bad and the street reserve was here so we utilized it. If you notice it is the drainage over there, we put in the proper drainage and we re-paved. And now the drawings for this would have been center lines so we will make it a nice two lane boulevard.”
Zenaida Moya, Mayor of Belize City
“The Belize City Council’s role will be, we will be dealing with the whole median, with the whole little island. We will be assisting in the financing of the island. We will be dealing with the planting so we want to put down nice large plants here whereby it will uplift the whole boulevard. We will also be dealing with the size of the street. The Belize City Council, anything that we can do when it comes to work men and when it comes to ensuring that all the monies that are needed, we will put the little extra.”
Keith Swift,
Can you take us to Kraal Road and the work that has been done there?
Anthony “Boots” Martinez,
“Oh yes that was a, we saw that we had some material and we saw some streets that needed to be improved. That was a urgent need for the residents of Queen’s Square and also we think that we had the capability to do it at the Ministry.”
The upgrading cost $169,000 and funds came from the South Side Improvement Project. Constructing the median will cost an additional $90,000 and the City Council and Ministry of Works will split the bill. Kraal Road was paid from Ministry’s purse. Plans are also in the pipeline to upgrade Neal’s Penn Road and Central American Boulevard.
