New Traffic Light Causes Chaos at Vernon Street Intersection

If you’ve been driving through Belize City this Christmas, you know that it’s a test of patience. Traffic officers are doing their best to keep things moving, but some intersections? Well, they’re still a nightmare. And one of the worst is at the corners of Vernon Street and Collet Canal, right by the busy fish market. Now, a new traffic light was supposed to help. Instead, drivers say it’s making things worse. Why? Well, the light seems built for a simple two-way intersection, but this spot has traffic coming from four directions, and a bridge thrown in for good measure. We spoke with Traffic Enforcement Manager Mauricio Gonzalez to find out whether the wrong system was installed. And more importantly, what’s the plan to fix this holiday headache?

 

Mauricio Gonzalez, Traffic Enforcement Manager

“The officers are out there on the ground and they’re putting in their, this specific period. No, we anticipating that the period would be busy due to the influx of traffic. Because of the Christmas celebrations and the residents are out there purchasing and everybody wants to get that last minute shopping in now, so the officers are out on the ground. And I believe that we have it under control.”

 

 Shane Williams

“What’s the issue with the traffic light is, seems to be only a two lane light.”

 

Mauricio Gonzalez

“Yeah. The traffic lights were recently installed. So we’re still in a somewhat a sens sensitization period. That’s the reason why we have an officer who is stationed out there, just as a precaution know we’re trying our best to have everyone safe during this period. We’re also thinking ahead, but if there are any incidents, we have people positioned in strategic locations for quicker response. As well. No, like I said earlier, we’re all anticipated that the traffic would be would be high. The level of traffic would be high. So we took these risks, we measure for these risks, and thus we have an officer pace at that location. The lights are working though. The lights are working. And the officer is just there as a precautionary.”