SPTC creating and rehabilitating streets in developing areas

The San Pedro Town Council (SPTC) is working to improve the daily commute for residents on the island. They are currently improving streets in the developing areas of DFC and surrounding locations where conditions are deplorable. This will improve people’s lives across subdivisions by giving them access to better roads. The council is also working on opening new streets for the island community.
Rehabilitation work began in the outskirts of DFC on April 5th in the unofficially named Alice Sarge subdivision. Ernesto Bardalez, the councilor in charge of Road Works and Infrastructure, explained that work was delayed in the last few months due to a lack of materials and setbacks with machines. However, he emphasized that they are determined to work on streets in bad conditions, like rocky, bumpy, and potholes.
Bardalez stated that the street rehabilitation in that area was requested before the elections at the beginning of the year. When the council got re-elected, they worked on a list of pending streets, and streets in the Alice Sarge Subdivision were the most urgent ones that needed attention.
The councilor further commented that they also opened a street behind the Ambergris Stadium, connecting Sea Grape Drive, going down to the stadium so that residents from the area no longer have to commute all the way around. In addition, they opened a new street around the stadium so residents could go directly towards SPTC barracks. They have been rehabilitating streets with rollers, making roads on the island much smoother.
Bardalez explained that opening new streets takes time, and they are trying to set a timeframe to put in their calendars. They plan to open one or two new streets every two months or every six weeks, depending on the availability of materials and demand on other streets. They prioritize the streets that would benefit the most residents. “We have several streets on the island that require grading and material, and we are currently focusing on these before opening new ones. This is because opening a new street is a lengthy process, and we are doing our best to coordinate the repair process as efficiently as possible. When prioritizing which streets to fix, we take into account the need and urgency of the residents. For instance, if a particular street has only one or two residents asking for repairs, but eight or ten households will benefit from it, we prioritize the latter. Opening a new street requires a lot of material and time, and we also need to consider the weather conditions. In the San Juan area, the paving process is taking longer than expected, but we are slowly rehabilitating the streets. We believe that paving and smoothing the streets will greatly benefit the residents of Ambergris Caye by making them more accessible and improving their condition. Our vision is to connect neighborhoods and improve the conditions of back roads, as residents from these areas need proper road access. Once we finish working on San Juan, we will move on to San Mateo,” said Bardalez to The San Pedro Sun.
Bardalez, Mayor Gualberto “Wally” Nunez, and Operations Manager Mr. Roberto Toriz meet weekly to monitor the progress and discuss setbacks. They hope the weather continues to be good so they can complete their hard work. They prioritize the list as requests come along for rehabilitation and plan to work on streets up north in the future.
The SPTC thanks all residents for their patience and reminds them that they will get to their request if it’s on the official list. To make an official request to fix a street contact Bardalez directly at phone number 665-8510. They are taking one street at a time. For more information and updates on roads being fixed on the island, visit https://www.facebook.com/SPtowncouncil/.