Bourda Street set for repairs
-as city shifts vendor stalls
The Mayor and City Council yesterday began relocating stalls from the Bourda Street carriageway to the western pavement in order to facilitate road repairs, which may result in vendors suspending their operations for a few weeks.
“Vendors have agreed that during the period they would not work because we had initially proposed to them that we were going to close off a portion of Regent Street from Orange Walk to Bourda Street and allow them to operate and they’ve agreed that instead of doing that, they prefer to close up until we’re finished with the road,” Town Clerk Royston King related on site yesterday.
King added that if vendors are still desirous of plying their trade during the period the repairs will be done, they have been given permission to vend on a portion of the Merriman Mall.
The repairs to Bourda Street will be facilitated by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, and are expected to take two to three weeks, or less, King stated yesterday.
During the time that the road is being repaired, vendors will not be required to pay rates to the council, but once the road upgrades are complete, and security, lights, water and other amenities are installed, fees will be increased.
“As per agreement, we are preparing to do this portion of Bourda Street. Vendors have agreed to cooperate and to remove their stalls; shift it back a little bit onto the pavement on the western side of this road and that is exactly what is happening here this afternoon. We’re very pleased with the co-operation we’ve been receiving from all the vendors in this section and as you know, we must do the road as part of our responsibility as the city government and so we’re pushing ahead to get the road done. We wanna do it before the rains for the festive season and also, to give the vendors a chance to come back into