Email

Print

One of them is the Road Safety project, which has had a measurable impact on the traffic fatalities on the western corridor, from Belize to Belmopan. With video provided by the Press Office, Here's the CDB's Director fo Project's assessment of the success of that project:

Daniel Best - Director of Projects, CDB
"That has been our flagship road safety project. As you know, we would have identified the demonstration corridor, and implemented both infrastructure improvements. But also, we took an approach to look at the social dimensions, in terms of training and building awareness for road safety among our youth and young people. And since that project has been implemented, we have seen over a 50% reduction in fatalities among the demonstration corridor, and an even greater percentage of reduction in fatalities among youth and young people who traverse the space. So, what did we do in that project? Well, we looked at the corridor, and we looked at what infrastructure improvements were needed in accordance with the iRAP methodology for rating roads, as the International Road Association. So, we looked at road markings. We looked at speed deterrents, but we also provided equipment, in terms of street lighting, but also vehicles for law enforcement, and the medical practitioners, to be able to respond to crashes better. In terms of training, we've trained quite a number of young people in road safety awareness. And they have also gone on to train others. So, overall, this has been a tremendous success. We want to extend it to other areas of Belize. But importantly, we also want to extend it to some of our other borrowing member countries that are having challenges in this particular area."