The Coastal Plain Highway is a major highway in eastern Belize. It runs from the Road 7 in Settlement 137, south to the Road 8 in Settlement 120.^[1]

The Coastal Plain Highway begins at a junction with the Road 7 in Settlement 137. It then runs southeast through remote and lightly-populated rural areas, before turning east to round Sugar Valley Hill.

After the hill, the highway turns south to serve the villages of Settlement 176 and Settlement 103 before terminating at a roundabout with the Road 8 in Settlement 120. This roundabout was constructed as part of the 2016-2023 Coastal Highway project.

For its entire length, the Coastal Highway is paved with asphalt and features 4 feet (1.2 m)-wide paved shoulders, with an additional unpaved margin. The speed limit ranges from as high as 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) in wide open areas, to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) on tighter curves, which also feature guardrails. At major intersections and near settlements, advanced rumble strips and speed bumps accompany a reduction in speed to 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) or less.

Mile markers are posted every mile, increasing from Settlement 137 to Settlement 120.

History

Coastal Road was created sometime around 1986 by merging sections of the Road 72 and Road 73 and extending the road from Settlement 103 to Settlement 137.

The roads surface was originally constructed from gravel or dirt, and frequently washed out during the rainy season. Some bridges were constructed from wood and were wide enough to allow only one vehicle at a time. In 2001 Cisco Construction Company paved the first mile in Settlement 137.^[2]

A major flood event on June 11, 2026 flooded the highway at Bridge 213 and washed away parts of the new highway surface. To fix it they concreted an additional 678 feet of roadway.^[3]

The Sixth Road (Coastal Highway) Upgrading Project was funded by the Government of Belize, UKCIF and CDB, through a GBP$25,050,000 grant and Bz$73,152,000 loan. Procurement of construction contractors commenced the 2nd quarter of 2019; bids were submitted on 24 October 2019 and contracts were signed on 2 December 2019.^[4]

Politecnica, an engineering firm based in Modena, Italy provided technical designs in 2018-2019 for the project.^[5] Contracts for the construction were awarded to Imer Hernandez Development Company Limited, and construction began on February 24, 2020.^[6]

The Coastal Highway Upgrading Project – Lot 1 was approximately 28.16 km (17.6 miles) including the upgrading of its intersection (Settlement 137) with the Road 7, as well as the rehabilitation of Sibun, Cornhouse and Soldier Creek Bridges and the new construction of Manatee Bridge.

Lot 2 was approximately 29.88 km (18.7 miles) including the construction of a new roundabout at its intersection with the Road 8. It included the rehabilitation of Nelly bridge as well as the new construction of Jenkins, Quamina, Deadman, Mangrove and Big Creek bridges. The project included the construction of earthen embankments, crushed gravel pavements, and two (3.6m) lanes with (1.5m) shoulders that have a double bituminous chip-seal wearing course. The road drainage scheme was also upgraded through the replacement of undersized culverts and the upgrading to reinforced concrete box structures or pipe culverts. The road segment was completed with modern ancillary road safety features, including high visibility road signs, edge markers, lane markings, safety rails, bus laybys and lighting.

The opening ceremony of the Coastal Plain Highway was on 7 July 2023.^[4]

Officially this road has always been the Coastal Plain Highway^[7], but locally it was only known as the Manatee Highway named after the Manatee Forest Reserve that lay on the west side of the highway and most commonly referred to as Coastal Road.

On September 24, 2020 a news article was written about a few government buildings and bridges being renamed, but the article also mentioned some proposals, in this case Manuel Esquivel Highway for the Coastal Road. But this was only a proposal and never actually named that even though a lot of websites and news media picked it up as fact.^[8]

As of August 19, 2023, the highway was still designated as the Coastal Plain Highway.^[1]