Caracol Road Nears Completion, Unlocking Belize’s Hidden Treasures

If you’ve ever dreamed of cruising through the lush landscapes of Mountain Pine Ridge or exploring the ancient wonders of Caracol, that dream is about to get a whole lot smoother. The Caracol Road Project, one of the country’s most ambitious infrastructure upgrades, is now eighty percent complete, with just the final stretch left to be paved. It’s a project that’s spanned multiple administrations and promises to open up new opportunities for tourism, travel, and trade. But what does this mean for motorists and the environment? Today, we caught up with Chief Engineer at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Evondale Moody, for the latest on the roadworks and what’s next for this scenic route into Belize’s heartland.

 

Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, MIDH

“At this point we are working on the remaining forty-two kilometers, which is divided into three sections. We call it two A, two B and two C. Two A is the section from Pinol to Guacemallo Bridge. And 2 B is the Guacemallo bridge construction, and 2 C is from Guacemallo to the maya ruin. At this point we have completed two B that was recently completed about two weeks ago. We completed that bridge structure. It is the longest bridge structure in terms of the span going over a river. It is kind of different from the Haulover Bridge, because the Haulover Bridge has a section going over land. But it in terms of span, it is the longest bridge over a river in the country. That would be at a hundred and thirty meters in span. So, that is completed. Remaining is 2 A and 2 C. 2 A, we have completed twelve out of twenty kilometers, so we have approximately eight kilometers to do. That is already up to subgrade level. 2 C we have completed twenty out of thirty kilometers, twenty-two kilometers sorry. So with that we have about nine kilometers left to do on that section. But most of these sections are already built up. So it is just to finish the paving works. So, in summary we are approximately about eighty percent complete if we add all sections together and that project is still within the budget. The original contract price was fifty-eight million. We are still within that budget. We have extended the time for the contractor due excessive rainfall in that part of the country. Those works are expected to be completed in September of this year.”