Belize City Council Explores Floating Sidewalk Project: Feasibility Study Underway

Belize City Council is exploring the idea of installing a floating sidewalk in the Southern Foreshore area.  The project will see opportunities for entrepreneurs as the project will result in a boardwalk of sorts where businesses can be set up.  According to Mayor Bernard Wagner, the council has been given a grant to do a feasibility study on the project which will see Deputy Mayor Allan Pollard travel to Montreal, Canada, next month to attend the Innovate4Cities conference.

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City: “This Dutch group who Blue 21. If you go and look up the Pavilion of Rotterdam, they did a floating pavilion in Rotterdam and so we are looking at doing a case study for Belize City as part of our waterfront development strategy. That was before me, it came before me, the strategy was there but no action, none of the action points were being actioned and so we said why not look at a floating boardwalk for the southern foreshore of Belize City. And so the Blue 21 along with the Dutch government have approved a grant fund for Belize City to do the feasibility study. When you look at a floating foundation we look at it in three areas that it will not be evasive in terms of environment degradation. You don’t drive piles. It will help in the local economic development because we’ll be able to put food booths, food stalls similar to the Mahogany along the boardwalk. And it will also serve, thirdly, as to prevent coastal erosion as well. Allan and Ms. Patnet will be representing us in Canada because this is an innovative project. It is viewed regionally and internationally as having a floating foundation that is only in Europe and you have one now in the Caribbean, in Belize City.”

Mayor Bernard explained that the idea for the floating sidewalk first came up in a meeting in Panama hosted by the Global Covenant of Mayors