Built in 1969, the Belcan Bridge has been in a structurally depleted state for years now - and the plan to replace it - which was shelved three years ago - is now live again.
With funding from the government of Taiwan, the design for the new Bridge was unveiled this afternoon.
Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner, Minister of Economic Transformation Osmond Martinez and Taiwanese Ambassador to Belize Lily Li- Wen Hsu did the honors. It was a major event that - in a presaging of the days ahead when the bridge is closed for construction - forced the city to redirect traffic on a busy Friday afternoon. Jomarie Lanza spoke with the mayor who gave us more details on what may be the council's largest and most pricey civil works project.
The mayor says the Belcan Bridge project is a testament to the strong international partnerships Belize has with partner nations like Taiwan. And now the future of this bridge which has stood for 56 years lies in the hands of the Belize City Council. The council is the implementing partner for a project valued in the tens of millions of dollars. At the design unveiling this afternoon, which kept traffic blocked off for about an hour, we asked the mayor whether they are equipped to oversee a project of this magnitude.
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
"This project is really a priority infrastructure project to the city of Belize it is funded by a grant from the government of Taiwan to the recipient the government of Belize and Belize City council will serve as an implementing partner along with the various other different government agencies and ministries to oversee the construction of the project."
"Again the city is an implementing partner the same agencies that saw the construction of the Haulover bridge and that saw the construction of various other projects within the country those technical expertise agencies will be involved in these projects and I stand here clearly telling you that Belize City Council only serves as an implementing partner."
"We will give the, we will ensure that local priorities the residents of Belize City the local priorities are taken into consideration whenever decisions are made, an implementing partner locally means that we are easy to make quick decisions because it will be done locally we will ensure that the residents voices are heard in respect to the phases of construction."
And as for how did this project - which is usually reserved for Central Government - land in the council's lap? The mayor told us we would have to redirect our questions to GOB
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
"You will have to ask the ministry a lot of questions you are posing to me that you will certainly have to take those questions up I can only speak on the fact that the city council will serve as an implementing partner along with various government agencies but the thing here is that this is a strong example of international partnerships driving local needs and that is the key thing I want to focus on today."
We also took note of the level of traffic that was being directed over the bridge at one of the busiest times of the day. So when the bridge is taken apart and construction begins how much of an inconvenience will this be to workers and school children? The mayor says that they have taken this into consideration and adjustments will be made to accommodate this
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
"There is a component to do a crossing for pedestrians and motorists so as not to ensure that people are able to move around pretty easily but for traffic obviously they will have to use the Chetumal bridge and the Belchina bridge."
Construction will begin in the first quarter of 2026 and is slated for an 18 month completion timeline.
