Belize City’s historic Swing Bridge is finally headed for a major rebuild. The century-old landmark, Central America’s last manually operated swing bridge, will be reconstructed through a twenty-eight-million-dollar Belize-Japan partnership. Mayor Bernard Wagner says the project may cause short-term disruptions, but it forms part of a bigger push to modernize the city, from new roads and boardwalks to cleaner transport and port upgrades.
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
“Right on track again. The Swing Bridge, the Belcan Bridge a vast improvement on the George Price Highway and the Philip Goldson Highway. A new Port of Belize coming. Belize City is on the verge of a great breakthrough never seen before. That new port when merge with the Floating Boardwalk will give Belize City a different outlook. And those two bridges, I know it will bring a bit of pain for residents, but it is necessary because out of pain you grow. You have to go through the fire to grow. You can’t don’t want to get burned but see good things. You have to go through it. And the MIDH is a formidable body that has, that is well organized and well fit to, to ensure. We will work closely with them. We’ll collaborate with them. Our team is working very closely to ensure that we are getting the information out. Whenever schools reopen and we begin to see that heavy amount of traffic, we are planning. We have already gazetted the one-way streets that will be, that will come on stream very shortly to control traffic movement. And so we are pretty, pretty excited about the way forward and the outlook for Belize City.”
Additionally, Government of Belize has purchased the San Cas Bottom Dollar property on North Front Street for five million dollars, a move officials say will save taxpayers millions by avoiding costly utility relocations tied to the upcoming Swing Bridge reconstruction while also providing storage and office space for contractors.
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