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And in other news, if you frequently travel on the Philip Goldson Highway, you probably get a headache every time you have to pass the roundabout near mile 4, especially during rush hours. That's because MIDH is currently repairing the road, which had started to sink, like many of the other structures in the area. It's a major project, but also a temporary one, until a more permanent solution to fix the sinking streets can be implemented.
But while it's already tough for commuters who go to work, when schools resume in a few weeks, it will be a lot more congested. Today the media asked the Minister if the works will be completed before that date.
Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure Development & Housing
"I would think so. But remember that wrong roundabout is the first test that we are doing to be able to deal with that and organic material that lays under that roadways. The roadway for years it has been pavement on top of pavement on top of that we have been spending millions of dollars and it has never been able to consolidate adequately. So what we did is we did a test to do the first half of the roundabout using pre stress piles and on casting of it and, and to be able to analyze the cost because the intent is to finish the roundabout and also do that same structural method all the way to the Haulover bridge."
"But it's an expensive endeavor. And so we were doing the first test to see analyze the costs, analyze how difficult it would be to monitor traffic but eventually it would have to be done. We just did a refurbishment of the pavement, if you notice, and that is temporary. That will last maybe two years. And we have seen signs that it's already starting to to show that the compaction is not adequate."
"You have to understand the studies that were done is that there's about 40 to 60 feet of peet below that road surface in in my private sector, I've built a hose and supervise the hose and that area that we had to put in for septic tanks that disappeared with time. They just disappeared because that area is a problematic area."
"And so that's the reason for it. But we we thank the Belizean people for their patience. I just asked a couple of ministers that go to work every day using that road and it's it's not a pleasant one. And thus the problem that people are telling me is that, yes, it's a little bit of traffic. You know in Belize you know, or used to traffic. But the problem is that the people that bypass the line and come into it afterwards and you know, we want get to where we want to get earlier than the rest. But it annoys people that are waiting, it affects the flow just as Belizeans we have to cooperate with each other and don't do the sidestep move that's all I'm asking."
