Big damage to City streets from flooding; City Hall needs $1.7 million for 157 streets

Posted: Monday, November 4, 2024. 9:31 pm CST.

By Aaron Humes: The Belize City Council estimates it needs $1.7 million to fix the 157 streets across the Old Capital that were damaged by floods and rainfall occasioned by the recent passing of Tropical Storm Nadine and subsequent rain events.

A recently completed Street Damage Assessment Report found that the total cost to fix all 157 streets would be $1,692,604, with all but a quarter million of that being the cost of material.

40 of the 157 affected streets were in the Lake Independence constituency, including part of the George Price Highway. The next most affected constituencies were, in order, Port Loyola (27); Caribbean Shores (24); Queen’s Square (17); and Collet (13). Next were Freetown and Pickstock with 11 streets each, then Albert with six, and Mesopotamia and Fort George with four each.

Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner told reporters today, “The streets that are now being flooded were not flooded in my days as a young person…when I see the impact of the torrential rainfall that come within one to two hours, and the downpours that occur, clearly it is an indicator that we need to do something different – we need to take ownership of climate change.”

He also flagged drainage as an issue: “It can’t be that you sit there as a resident, knowing that climate change is here, and do not participate in the cleaning of your drains right in front of your own property. I know that potholes are here; we can’t stop the rain. But the mere fact that we as a City understand that what we are seeing here is outside of our control. We want to get to the potholes…”

Mayor Wagner tied the issue to the plans for a Climate Action Plan with the support of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, saying that there will need to be a choice between the traditional chip-and-seal method, hot mix, or concrete.

Only 13 of the 157 streets were previously upgraded in 2024, including Albert Street West in the Albert constituency. Nine of the affected streets are considered ‘primary’ or most-trafficked roads in the City: Administration Drive, George Price Highway, and Lacroix Boulevard in Lake Independence; Lizarraga Avenue in Pickstock; Antelope and Iguana Streets in Collet; Euphrates Avenue and Neal Pen Road in Queen’s Square; two sections of Campus Avenue (one of which was previously upgraded); sections of University Boulevard; Coney Drive; Bachelor Avenue and Graduate Crescent in West Landivar; and Albert Street West in Albert. Some of the streets such as Euphrates Avenue straddle multiple constituencies.

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