Home > Belize Travel Blog > Ambergris Caye > San Pedro Infrastructure & Projects: Traffic, Parking, The Bridge, A Quarry

San Pedro Infrastructure & Projects: Traffic, Parking, The Bridge, A Quarry

Mar 5, 2023|Ambergris Caye

San Pedro Infrastructure & Projects: Two topics I don’t write enough about in this blog about Ambergris Caye.

Infrastructure is…slow moving and generally doesn’t see an update until it hits a wall, like there is no water pressure and/or running water at all over a busy holiday weekend.

Or it is discovered that the bridge connecting San Pedro town to North Ambergris Caye was crumbling. (It was getting patched for almost a decade before a new one was commissioned)

San Pedro Sign

That’s not just a Belize thing…the US has the same issues.

So I thought I’d highlight some projects going on around San Pedro. And while they might not all be to my liking…I do like that this administration 1. is making the effort and 2. is keeping us informed with announcements and updates on their very active Facebook page.

Maybe next is a budget? Accounting? Perhaps I go too far…

A note: SanPedroScoop does not lean either way – and is not connected or even enamored with any political party in Belize – in fact, SPS is not even able to vote…yet (fingers crossed). But I do like progress towards transparency and well…progress in general.

My Citizenship Application Is Off to Belmopan!

Table of Contents

The Completion and Opening of the New Bridge

Zip-a-dee-do-da THE BRIDGE IS OPEN and two-way traffic is flowing. Construction of this bridge started at the end of December 2021 and finished 14ish months later.

Now I know many of you are still mourning the hand pulled-ferry pre-2006, but for those of us who live here – and use this bridge? That is like mourning a time before smartphones. Or the body you had at 25 and didn’t appreciate. That time is never coming back.

Now I can freely drive over the bridge – without squeezing past some van – so close that I drive with my eyes closed. HOORAY!

The New Bridge

Here is a picture from the San Pedro Town Council. An official inauguration will be announced soon. Any guesses on the bridge’s name?

The Parking/Traffic Situation

Hundreds of hotel rooms have opened over the last few years all over the island. And it seems like a similar number of new/refurbished golf carts have been added to our streets. Tourism is booming, and traffic has become a serious issue.

Getting down Middle Street or Back Street – especially during school hours – has become a…slow roll.

The San Pedro Town Council has tried to make changes to ameliorate the problem. The Large trucks (see Quarry below) must be at a standstill between certain hours.

Parking is also becoming a big issue. We’ve got heavy parking along narrow 2-way streets that can be reduced to a crawl during daytime hours. The one municipal park lots has maybe a dozen spots and often half are taken by taxis. We’ve got taxis taking up quite a few potential parking spots on the town streets. And we’ve had some larger buildings privatize their parking areas right in the middle of town.

The town council, in the last few weeks, announced Parking Meters. Which have started collecting along Front Street. And…they are not cheap! But hoping they do something about the problem.

Get your shillings & dollar coins ready! Here are the Parking Meter rates.

Roads North & A New Quarry?

Here’s what I hear: a new quarry is in the works for the north side of Ambergris Caye.

But let me back up a bit. In 2015-ish – a road was bulldozed into the mangroves at about 9 miles north, Ambergris Caye.

You can see the location on Google Earth.

And heavy machinery started mining for fill. Most of the big rattling dump trucks you see zipping up and down the island are coming from this quarry – bringing rock and sand to fill for low-lying properties all over the island. Much of it seems to be used for larger developments.

Photo from 2016: a few trenches