Challenging Road Project Cuts across the Heart of Coxen Hole

The PO-35 passing across Coxen Hole is not just a national highway, it is a road that has the highest commercial use on the island and has to be integrated into the city walkways and drainage. “You need to make it [Coxen Hole] more of a city than a town,” said Ing. Castillo, infrastructure chief of the Roatan Municipality.

The road itself will be 15 meter wide with a 1.5 meter sidewalks, two meter wide cycling lanes. And finally a 10 meter wide motor vehicle road. The construction of the six month contract began in June and its goal is to be finished by Christmas 2024.

It is a road that has the highest commercial use on the island.

The new road will benefit drivers, business owners, increase land prices, create additional commercial lots, and provide a more first glance of the island four tourists arriving at the Juan Manuel Galvéz international airport. “In the end, everyone is benefiting because they have more roads and more urban spaces they can use,” said Ing. Castillo.

Whereas in other parts of the paving projects Roatan Municipality would do the groundwork and preparation for the road, and would bid out only the road paving portion of the project. This time the roadwork was too complex and coordination between the preparation and paving as well. “Given the complexity of this contract, we decided to give the entire contract to one company,” said Ing. Castillo. Elite, a construction company based in French Harbour, who won the bid for the project.

The cost of the contract is Lps. 59.9 million [$2.4 million] and the 1.5 kilometer road project is the most complex and expensive per kilometer the Bay Islands have ever seen. Part of the expense is because of the retention walls needed to be constructed at the site. “Half the road has a need for retention walls,” said Ing Castillo. Whereas prior only in French Harbour and in Los Fuertes the retention walls had to be built. Yet another expense paid by Roatan taxpayers via Roatan municipality was the supervision contract of Lps. 2.5 million awarded to Consultores en Ingeniería [CINSA].

The road rises from just a few meters above sea level at the airport to around 50 meters at its crest at Monkey hill road. The design of the new road attempts to lessen the hills and avoid blind hills. “We are trying to improve the vertical curvatures of the road,” said Ing. Castillo. “We are filling it in some spots and cutting it off in others. It is all about creating a win-win.”

The project is not just a national road construction, but building an urban road and with urban spaces that integrate the road with surrounding businesses and lots. Water and sewer systems have to be moved, and bridge boxes are being constructed instead of culverts.

Urban road project created several very happy land owners.

The urban road project created several very happy land owners. Elite has been filling in acres of land with earth that was shaved of the road. From what were some inaccessible and of little value lots, there are now very valuable commercial lots. “They get the benefit of the dirt and we get the benefit of decreasing the cost of hauling the materials to specific spots,” said Ing. Castillo. Several islanders have become millionaires

With rains and heavy construction taking place at the new municipal dump, there were changes as far as the road paving schedule. “We had an emerging situation from Kix to mud hole with the deterioration of the road,” said Ing Castillo. The Roatan municipality has begun the dirt work on the 2.3 kilometers between Kix and the dump. That is the last portion of the PO-35 that has not been bid out for paving.

Some other road projects were also delayed. One of them is the paving of the 4.3 kilometer road from Palmetto to Crawfish rock that is now planned for construction in early 2025. 750 meters from Próspera to Colonia Smith diversion has been paved and 620 meter in total from the Mall up towards Crawfish Rock.

A New Roads Should Create New Opportunities

Ten or fifteen years ago, the Roatan Municipality’s budget was not sufficient for such an ambitious project. Now, with an annual municipal income of over $10 million, the municipality has been able to embark on larger scale projects. “We have been making roads for about five to six years now, so everyone knew that this was going to happen at one point,” says Ing. Ricardo Castillo, infrastructure chief of the Roatan Municipality.

This summer, the municipality is focused on the Sandy Bay road building. Employing 120 road construction workers, the 8.3 km project − which began on September 20, 2022 in Sandy Bay − is expected to be completed in October 2023.

The nine meter wide road will contain two three and a half meter lanes and a one meter lane for walking or cycling. Using state of the art 5200 PSI concrete, the road is expected to last for thirty years.

The road’s most challenging segment is between Sandy Bay’s Ramírez and Anthony’s Key. By the end of June, the Municipality was 1.2 kilometers away from West End with the dirt work.

“A proper asphalt road should last 15 to 20 years without any maintenance,” said Castillo. Islanders got nearly double that lifespan out of their Sandy Bay road, which was originally built in the 1980s. Despite numerous repairs and emergency measures, the road survived nearly 40 years. Since 2010, funds have been available for pothole repairs and maintenance to prevent the road from deteriorating.

Most challenging segment is between Sandy Bay’s Ramírez and Anthony’s Key.

White topping road around 500 culverts are planned to be installed in the Mud Hole to West End. “We make them bigger, we stabilize the area around them,” says Ing. Castillo. “We are taking everything that is less than 36 inches and putting brand new material.”

As the road widens, Roatan Electrical Company [RECO] moves electrical posts at their own expense, a process that started in 2018. “It gets a little bit rough, but in the end they do help us out,” says Ing. Castillo. A few RECO posts are waiting to be moved in Dixon Cove. Once that is done, the Municipal can finish sidewalks and cycling lanes in that area.

IDECA won the concrete paving contract for the road. Their winning bid came in at around 59 million Lps. ($2.4 million USD). The entirety of the project is estimated to cost the Municipality and the Roatan taxpayers Lps. 155 million ($6.3 million USD).

In the end, the road construction costs on the island are pretty competitive with road construction costs on the Honduran mainland. The key to that is doing the roadwork part of the road paving projects in house.

On the new and rebuilding road projects, the work is typically divided into two parts. The contractor does the concrete paving of the road, but beforehand, the Municipality constructs the earthwork, culvert, and gullies and sidewalks. They negotiate with property owners and easements, or access issues. “We give it a lot of attention, since we are from here,” says Ing. Castillo. “We don’t tend to buy land to build roads, but people tend to see how their property value could increase.”

According to Ing. Castillo, Roatan Municipality spends around Lps. 20 − Lps. 22 million per kilometer of road and, all costs included. “That, in the end, is the reason why we do what we do,” says Ing. Castillo. “We know the people, we know the work, and we know what to do. The neighbors usually try to help us out with the road construction.” That would not always be the case with a mainland company, whose employees don’t know or understand the island or its people.

There are two other sections of the PO-35 national road to be rebuilt. There is a 2.3 kilometer road from Mud Hole to the KIX scheduled to follow in 2024. The most complex part will be the white topping of the PO-35, the 1.5 kilometer road from the KIX sporting complex to the Roatan Airport.

The 1.5 kilometer road was sent out to an outside company for design, as it is the most complex portion of the island’s main road system. “We want an over bridge and some big construction on the site,” said Ing. Castillo. The sewer and rain escapes are a big issue in the steep terrain of the road cutting across Coxen Hole between the airport and Calle Ocho. That is planned to be done in late 2024.

There are two other sections of the PO-35 national road to be rebuilt.

There are some interesting features of the island’s revitalized road system. The Mud Hole intersection is to receive a traffic roundabout, the biggest one on the island. Coxen Hole center road will have three lanes of traffic, and the road will be reduced to two lanes around the KIX sporting complex on the north side of Coxen Hole.

There are more possibilities of roads the Municipality is looking at: a northern road that starts in West End, continues to Palmetto, climbs to Crawfish Rock, descends to the Pristine Bay roundabout, and connects to the Big Bight road and eventually ends at Plan Grande. All that is possible thanks to the heavy machinery that the Roatan Municipality owns. Municipality has begun dirt work on the old Palmetto to Tres Flores road. The paving for that portion is expected for 2024.

The municipality has gained much-needed experience in the road paving business. The stretch between Island Saloon and the oxidation pond was perhaps the most challenging earthwork in the process of rebuilding the municipality’s road system. The municipal was built in two months. “That was pretty hectic. We moved 1500 tons of dirt there,” said Ing. Castillo.

By the Madeyso store and by the Megaplaza mall the municipal had to move dirt out and replace it with rock to stabilize the road’s substrate. As much as 15 feet of dirt had to be moved and replaced.

Bobby is Roatan’s Veteran Singer and Songwriter

His musical journey has been a long one. It began when he learned to play a few guitar chords when he was 12, back when JFK was president.
He played harmonica in Chicago’s north side blues clubs. “I got to jam with Eddie Robinson, Mighty Joe Young, and Magic Slim,” says Bobby. “I couldn’t play that good (sic) either, but they let me get up there.”

At 23 Bobby was working as a substitute teacher at his old high school when a friend of a friend mentioned an idyllic island in the Western Caribbean. He was quoting a letter he received from a man named Gordon Ford who lived on Roatan beach, and overlooked a development project for a developer named Bob Plombo.

Bobby tried to look up Bay Islands and Roatan in the local library, “but you couldn’t get hardly anything,” remembers Bobby. Still, the letter was intriguing enough that Bobby forsakes his fascination with Brazil and headed out to Roatan. “The island was a very remote place back then,” says Bobby.

It was 1973, and while hippies were discovering the hippie trail to Kathmandu, Bobby headed out to the Bay Islands. “I came for the adventure. I didn’t have anything holding me down,” Bobby remembers of his first Roatan visit.

For two weeks, he lived in a hexagonal beach house on Palmetto Bay before moving to Crawfish Rock, where he stayed for six months and bought an acre of land for Lps. 1,000 ($500). That purchase sealed his commitment to the island. On the overland journey back to Chicago, through Guatemala and Mexico, he played harmonica every chance he got.

He moved to Roatan permanently in 1974. He lived in Crawfish Rock and French Harbour, supporting his growing family.

Bobby didn’t have any carpentry skills when he first came to the island, but he got his first lesson by preparing posts for his thatched roof house. Within a few years he had a carpentry crew working for him, and, he has supported himself as a carpenter and builder since 1975. A couple of times he had to return to the US to earn a little extra and support his growing family on the island.

His Roatan music adventure developed gradually. His singing debut came in 1981 at the Roatan Yacht Club. It was a place where all the shrimp and lobster fishermen came. “I never sang in my life, but I knew three songs: Rivers of Babylon, Fishin’ Blues and [Me and] Bobby McGee.”

A friend had given him a folder for harmonica music, and someone else gifted him an Ovation fiberglass acoustic guitar that was left behind on a sailboat. His lack of inherent musical skills was overcome by his passion for the music, and before long Bobby’s solo musical career was off to the races. “They didn’t take a long cane and drag me off the stage,” Bobby remembers of his first solo performance at the RYC.

Roatan shaped Bobby Rieman just as much as they shaped his lyrics.

He performed solo from 1981-1996 and wrote his first song “The Roatan song” in the mid 1980s. He played in Bayman Bay Club in Guanaja in the 1990s, and on Utila during the island’s annual Carnivals. “Over the years we played just about everywhere,” says Bobby. “I was in my first band at age 46.”

In 1986 he finally purchased amplifiers. “I was learning, and I was very passionate about that,” says Bobby. In 2000 he recorded his first CD in La Ceiba: “Roatanified.” With Brion James, a professional musician living on Roatan, he recorded two more CDs. All in all, Bobby recorded 34 songs − 33 original and one cover song. “I am proud of that,” he says.

At 73, Bobby still writes songs. His last CD “Putting in Time” was produced in 2017. His song lyrics − just like their titles are melancholic: “Northwest Caribbean Sea,” “Lights are on, but nobody’s home,” “Six Days in between.” Roatan shaped Bobby Rieman just as much as they shaped his lyrics, lyrics that describe the island’s history, idiosyncrasies, quirks, and feel.

Bobby has heard some beautiful voices in his days. He has seen many talented musicians and singers, but one stands out above the rest. “Jeffrey James – that guy had the most excellent presentation and talent with the guitar,” says Bobby. “He was left handed and played the guitar upside down with the low string on the top. He made sounds that you just can’t duplicate.” The two musicians jammed a lot together over the years.

In 2023, Bobby’s band plays at Bananarama on Sundays and at AKR. Bobby’s trio of musicians is called “The Band” and includes two Roatan veterans. Junior Bodden plays the bass and Cornelio Güity is on drums.

Bobby appreciates being heard and creating sound that will live on for decades. “Seeing people moving to what you are doing makes you feel a connection,” says Bobby. “It makes you feel that you are inspiring people to move. That is what music does.”

You can enjoy more Bobby's songs on his Youtube Channel: @bobbyrieman1950

Roatan Hosts a Sixth Edition of the Largest Bicycle-Tourist Event in Honduras

Some riders carried portable stereo equipment and played music to motivate themselves during the hard climbs of the race. The roughly one kilometer beach trail between Crawfish Rock and Palmetto Bay offered some of the biggest technical challenges of the ride.

While the recreational riders went off pavement the bicycle racers stayed on pavement and rode across Jackson Road before arriving in West Bay after 62 kilometers. The first elite racer was Héctor Menendez who came in with a time of 2 hours, 14 minutes and 9 seconds. Haydee Muñoz, a Roatan native took first place in women’s Master’s category. Her time (1:31:34) completing the 81 kilometer loop was better than the elite winner, Myra Calero who came in with a time of 1:44:52. Muñoz had won the event in 2021. “The PTP is the hardest race so far and I’ve done Tela and Comayagua and nothing compares to [PTP Roatan race],” said Muñoz.

Point 2 Point, organized by Carlos Johnson and Jaime Cabus, is one of several sporting events that bring in tourists to Roatan during the low tourist season of September and October. The Roatan Fishing Tournament, Bay Islands International Half Marathon, Acropola Endurance Run, and Point 2 Point, all bring in visitors to the island. Five hundred participants from 12 countries took place in this year’s Point 2 Point event, 35 participants more than in 2021.

For the longest 20 kilometers run, nine people registered, all of them islanders. The top finisher comes in at 2 hours and 20 minutes. Sixteen locals participated in the 10 kilometer event. In the 5k run 70 people participated and in the 2k run 60 children signed up.

Logistics and organization of the running trails were organized and set up by the Cacique Trail Runners. Cacique organizes cross country races in four places around Honduras: in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, Choluteca, La Ceiba, and Roatan. Out of these the Tierra Extrema race in Tegucigalpa – Ojojona is the most extreme, and most difficult of the races organized in Honduras.

The running course took the runners into Marbella, Colonia Smith, Crawfish Rock and finished in Palmetto Bay housing community.

Giselle Brady and BICA were organizers of the event. The logistics of the race and the setup of the running course were done by the Cacique trail runners. Forty volunteers, most of them, Roatan High School and BICA volunteers, helped with the event. Cacique Trail Runners are considering Port Royal Park for the 2023 race venue.

A New Microbrewery Opens on Roatan’s North Side

The idea of the brewery is that of Ilias Maier, Canadian entrepreneur, resort manager, and beer aficionado who moved to the island in 2003.

Maier’s 23-acre property sits atop a natural fresh water aquifer that gently and patiently filters the island’s rains providing one of the most critical ingredients to successful beer-making- fresh water. Add to that a passion for craft brewing, expertise in navigating the ins and outs of setting up and running a business on Roatan, endless patience, back-breaking work, and an injection of capital, and you get Roatan’s only microbrewery – though not the first.

That honor goes to Jiri Maska, a Czech businessman who built and opened the now defunct, Bay Islands Brewery in 2004 on a hilltop overlooking Punta Gorda. Maska begun brewing Bay Islands Pilsner run into problems from the start.

Distributing kegs of his beer to West End and West Bay were a logistical nightmare. The frequent power outages on the island would ruin batches of beer and the rather heavy taste of the Czech Pilsner didn’t always fit well with the hot Caribbean climate.

Tough, legal challenges from Honduras’ biggest beer maker trying to preserve its monopoly didn’t help either. In 2001 Cervecería Hondureña, makers or Salva Vida, Imperial, Port Royal, and Barena was bought up by SAB Miller and the Honduran beermaker tried everything not to lose any ground in its growing Roatan market.

Fifteen years later Honduras has five microbreweries. There is the D&D Brewery in Lake Yojoa, Sol de Copan in Copan Ruinas, Durnoff in Ceiba, and Honduras Brewing Company in Tegucigalpa.

Roatan also stepped back into the microbrewery business. Ilias Maier and his business partner Mark Flanagan began making small batches and testing out RIBC’s equipment in 2018. “Ilias ad I had always known that we wanted to do something together, but the timing just never seemed to work out,” said Flanagan.

The entire brewing process takes several weeks from start to finish.

Making beer is a craft and the entire brewing process takes several weeks from start to finish. RIBC imports its main ingredients; grain and hops, but many of the added infusions like watermelon, hibiscus, and pineapple are local.

The process begins with grinding the malted grain and soaking it in hot water in a phase referred to as mashing. The mash is then separated into a clear, sweet broth called wort, leaving behind the residual grain. The wort is then boiled in a brew kettle along with the hops and other flavoring ingredients. Once cooled, the wort is transferred to a temperature-controlled fermentation tank where the yeast is added and allowed to do its work. It converts the wort’s sugary goodness into alcohol and carbonation, a process that can take a week or more.

The brew then matures and mellows and, at just the right time, is filtered and kegged. “We decided that once we could successfully produce two consistent batches of the same beer, we would feel confident to scale up to the 10-keg batch. The large batch uses upward of 400Lbs. of grain and carried a much bigger risk that than a three-keg small batch that only uses about 100Lbs. of grain,” said Flanagan.

The first beer brewed were the Paradise Ale and Sunny Haze. The recipes have been tweaked, perfected, and scaled up to the larger tanks. RIBC is filling kegs and delivering them to various tap rooms around the island. There is IPAs, pale ales, wheat beers, reds, ambers, and even a porter. All-in-all eight beers are brewed.

On top of several places RIBC distributes its beer in West End, West Bay and French Harbour RIBC plans to add distribution points like Bananarama, San Simon, Larry & Luey’s, Jonesville Point Marina, and Frank’s Irish Pub. Roatan’s second adventure with micro beer brewing is just beginning.