If it was not bad at first (but yes it was), it definitely is at its worst at the moment. TRAFFIC! Ever since the commencement of construction of the Town Clock on Barrier Reef Drive traffic has been a dire mess in downtown San Pedro. Now that the clock is complete, part of Barrier Reef Drive is still blocked and people are wondering what’s going to happen to traffic on the island.
Well for once, all the designated one way streets in town serve no purpose with the detours that have been set up around the town clock at Central Park. A few streets are being used for two way traffic and most residents are not respecting the other one way streets. And who blames them, everybody is confused as to which streets to use to get around town.
Well the clock is complete and that section of Barrier Reef Drive remains closed and residents are wondering when it will be opened again. Mayor Elsa Paz told Ambergris Today that the street should be opened up shortly but that a public consultation is still pending to determine if Barrier Reef Drive (Front Street) will be closed up entirely to traffic, block off the section that is closed at the moment or go back to closing the section of Central Park only on the weekends from 6p.m. to 6a.m. This decision, Mayor Paz says, will be let up to the public.
While it seems that this decision should have been made before or at the time when the clock was being constructed so as not to cause chaos on the streets, it is still pending on the Town Council’s to-do list; hopefully a decision is made very soon.
So it seems that the entire flow of traffic in town depends on this one decision on Barrier Reef Drive. San Pedro needs more traffic wardens; there are only two at the moment. Mayor Paz stated that the Council has a budget for six wardens but at the moment chooses not to hire anymore and pay bills with the money allotted for extra warden salaries. They might want to reconsider that decision.
Getting from point A to point B in town right now is a bit frustrating; parking is a mess, no one knows which streets are one way anymore and the Traffic Wardens need more help to control the flow of traffic. Let’s hope that the Town Council works quickly in getting this problem all lined up.
Click Here For More Ambergris Today News Online
