Most Challenging BI Road Project to Date

This task came at a price. “The risk of employees working in such big cuts and in confined areas, and with cars transiting [practically] on top of them throughout the day were some of the biggest challenges,” said Devin McNab, General Manager of Elite, a company that is constructing the project. The French Harbour-based construction company, founded in 2007 and employing 350 workers, has become the island’s most experienced concrete road building firm.

The Coxen Hole project broke ground in June 2024, and McNab expects the work to conclude in June 2025. “The project seems that is going slow, but there are more than $2 million of underground [black water] infrastructure,” said McNab of the Coxen Hole black water system.

“ZOLITUR has been visionary and it’s the only institution that has looked after the [black water] problem.”

The paving of the PO-35 across Roatan’s biggest city is estimated at 59.9 million [$2.4 million] and is the most expensive per kilometer road Roatan has seen. “These 1.5 kilometers cost more than the 11 kilometers that were paved from the garbage dump to West End,” says McNab. “We are working nights. We are pouring [concrete] late nights instead of the day to alleviate the traffic.”

The project was originally designed to have bridges, but the Municipality of Roatan noticed there was an opportunity to save money by eliminating the bridges and expanding the culvert boxes in several different locations of the urban road project. There are three sections with culvert boxes, one by Serrano Hardware, another by the triángulo section, and a third by the ESBIR school street entrance. “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 crossing in Coxen Hole will consist of two 3.5 meter lanes, two bicycle lanes, and two sidewalks. “We are not cutting corners,” says McNab. The idea is for this portion – the busiest and most urban of the PO-35 road – to last 30-40 years. The PO-35 originates in West Bay and goes for 54 kilometers to Camp Bay Village.

The most expensive per kilometer road

The entire island of Roatan has been getting a vehicular road heart surgery since 2018. In 2024, the construction company Celaque has paved a concrete road from the Punta Gorda entrance east to Diamond Rock, but has not finished the portion that was supposed to reach Camp Bay village. Palmetto to Crawfish road is waiting for construction to begin this year.

The José Santos Guardiola portion of the PO-35 road is being rebuilt as well. The entire length in the contract is 7.2 kilometers. The municipality of Jose Santos Guardiola has awarded Elite a contract to construct 3 km of the road. ZOLITUR has funds for another 1.2 kilometers of the concrete road, and the central government has finally awarded Elite the three-kilometer contract from their budget.

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.