MIDH Official: Haulover Bridge Was Never Planned Four Lanes

On Tuesday, we reported that there was a minor traffic accident on the newly-opened Haulover Bridge at Mile five on the Philip Goldson Highway. When the finishing touches on the bridge are complete, it will have proper lighting and line marking down the centre of the bridge to guide motorists to stay in their respective lanes. The Haulover Bridge has become the topic of much discussion lately. While some have marvelled at the design and aesthetics of the bridge, others have complained that it is not a four-lane structure to accommodate more traffic. Today, the Chief Engineer, Evondale Moody set the record straight that the bridge was never designed to be a four-lane structure.

 

Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Infrastructure Development

“The Haulover Bridge was never, ever four lanes, never.  The original structure that we got designed by an Italian firm called Polytechnica was exactly the same width that we have right now in terms of typical cross-section. The only difference is that this structure is a reinforced concrete girder bridge, and the original one that was designed was an arch bridge, which basically was a single span. So it spanned from one bank to the next, but that was a steel structure. And based on the retendering procedures that we went through, we were not able to construct that bridge because of the significant cost. We were estimating, based on the bids that came in, that whole structure was supposed to cost us $60 million Belize. We could not afford that, and so we had to go back to the drawing board and that was when we decided to design the new structure that we have built right now locally, and so that was what we were able to build for $30.9 million, which is still a substantial amount, but it works for us based on our economy and what we could afford. Just to ela borate on the four lanes, we would have never been able to do that because the approaches coming into the new Haulover Bridge from Belize City, and also the part where you depart going north, we did not have the space to put four lanes. So it made no sense for you to build a four-lane bridge when you still have to taper back into two lanes. And if you know the value of lands around that area, especially where we have built the bridge, we had to acquire a number of properties equating to over $6 million that we spent in land acquisition. So if we were supposed to build a four-lane bridge, imagine how much we would have had to pay to convert that section from the north end of the new Haulover Bridge going towards the airport. Those are all expensive land on the seaside and on the riverbank. So it was never, ever the ministry’s intention to build a four-lane bridge at that location, never.”