On July 13, 2026, ongoing flood recovery efforts in and around Belmopan suffered a major new setback after rising weekend floodwaters forced an emergency closure of a critical construction access point and damaged key infrastructure for a major highway upgrade project.
The Mount Pleasant Bridge crossing, located just outside Belmopan’s city limits on the George Price Highway, was closed to all traffic for approximately six hours starting at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, after floodwaters rose to more than 23 inches above the road carriageway, reaching nearly the height of the bridge guardrails. According to Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing (MIDH), the fast-moving current of the floodwaters made crossing unsafe for any vehicles, prompting officials to close the highway out of an abundance of caution for public safety.
The closure came at a particularly inopportune moment for the George Price Highway upgrade project, which was scheduled to launch piling operations for a new bridge this very week. The upgrade project itself was launched in response to repeated historic flooding at this same crossing: Moody confirmed that this is the third major flooding event to submerge the Mount Pleasant crossing, following similar incidents in 2008 and June 2020, making a replacement bridge a critical priority for regional infrastructure safety.
To accommodate construction of the new bridge, project crews had already built a temporary detour to keep highway traffic moving during building work. When floodwaters receded enough for crews to assess damage, they discovered significant harm to this temporary detour that will require full reconstruction before work can proceed.
Moody explained that the unplanned flood damage and subsequent detour repairs will push back the start of piling operations on the new bridge by an estimated two to three weeks, adding another layer of challenge to the already complex infrastructure project. Officials have noted that the delay will not change the end goal of improving flood resilience for the key Belizean highway, but will extend the timeline for construction-related traffic disruptions in the area.