The George Price Highway, is one of five main highways in Belize. It originates in Belize City, runs west through Belmopan City, San Ignacio & Santa Elena and Benque Viejo del Carmen Town and terminates at the Guatemalan border. The highway bisects the country and ties the eastern and western parts of Belize together.

History

The Belize-Cayo Road construction started in the 1930s and was expected to be completed by 1949. The road was constructed of a bituminous surface.^[1] By 1938, 50 miles of all weather road had been constructed.^[2]

By 1949 the Belize-Cayo Road and the Belize-Hector Creek Road were complete, linking Belize Town to San Ignacio & Santa Elena at the new Hawkesworth Bridge.

The section of highway from Belmopan to the Guatemala border was rehabilitated in 1991.^[3]

Sections of the Western Highway were resealed in 1997.^[3]

On September 20, 2003, the Beaver Dam Creek Bridge was reconstructed as a new steel bridge to replace the old broken concrete bridge.

The Roundabout 2 was constructed at the junction of the George Price Highway and the Road 8 in July 2016.

In 2019 the Roaring Creek Bridge was reconstructed slightly upstream due to the old Roaring Creek Bridge being too narrow and getting congested, with the inauguration ceremony held on March 20, 2020. As part of this project the roundabout also had to be modified, with the western leg being moved slightly south.

Due to heavy floods in 2021 the section of road from the Roaring Creek Bridge to the gas station in Roaring Creek was raised about 3 feet and concreted.

The government advised the public on January 26, 2026 to remove all highway memorials and business signs between Belmopan City and La Democracia as the roadworks was commencing. Any businesses wanting to replace the signs after the highway reconstruction had to apply for a permit from MIDH.^[4]

Project Area: Roaring Creek to Loma Luz Roundabout in Santa Elena Town

Rehabilitation of the George Price Highway from Roaring Creek to Loma Luz Boulevard, Santa Elena Town was substantially completed by 2024 with completion of Section 3– Blackman Eddy to Loma Luz Boulevard, Santa Elena Town.

The Total investment for the civil works, supervision, land acquisition and payment to affected persons was BZ$77,743,457.46. The Ministry hired a Contractor to perform periodic and routine maintenance of the 32.5 kms of the newly rehabilitated highway for a period of 2 years, which ended by early February of 2025.^[5]

Project Area: San Ignacio Town – San José Succotz

This project upgraded approximately 6.6 miles of the George Price Highway between San Ignacio Roundabout and San José Succotz, near to the entrance of Benque Viejo del Carmen Town over the course of 2 years commencing on September 4 2023. The contract was signed on July 20, 2023.^[5]

The upgrade adhered to international standards with a cross section of double 3.6 m lanes and 1.5 m of paved shoulder on each side. Hot-mix asphalt road surface was used for most of the highway and concrete at sections bounded by the Mopan River. The cost for this upgrade was BZ$26M and was a blend of OID Loan financing and local, counterpart, funding.^[6]

In San José Succotz, approximately 800 meters was going to be reinforced concrete pavement, and the rest of the highway upgrade was Hot Mix asphalt. Works also included the placement of gabion baskets to protect the riverbank in certain sections from San José Succotz to Benque Viejo del Carmen Town entrance. The cost for this upgrade was BZ$26,709,339.09.

The road was originally known as the Belize-Cayo Road. The section from Settlement 117 to Belize Town was known as Hector Creek Road.^[1]

At some point, probably in the 1980s the Belize-Cayo Road was merged with the Hector Creek Road and renamed the Western Highway.

The Western Highway was renamed the George Price Highway in honour of George Price on September 20, 2012.