Hopeville, Cattle Landing and Forest Home concerned about not having bypass

The residents of Hopeville, Cattle Landing, and Forest Home are becoming more concerned about the proposed route when work commences on the reconstruction of the Joe Taylor Bridge. While these communities welcome the new infrastructure, the three communities are taking into consideration the impact of several services and the impact on commuters to and from Punta Gorda Town. These three communities believe that there are alternate options to address and mitigate their concerns. Therefore, they wrote to the Minister of Infrastructure Development and Housing to call for a meeting with key stakeholders including the residents and MIDH to work collaboratively. In their letter, they highlighted five main concerns and those concerns are the erection of a pedestrian/bicycle bridge before the removal of the structure, the condition of the Carib Reserve Road that still need more attention, the safety and security of residence in the surrounding areas, the availability of boat launching and the impact on Tourism which is just rebounding from covid-19 pandemic. PGTV tried to reach out to the Mayor of Punta Gorda Town to ask if he would be advocating for a temporary bridge to make commuters and essential services flow without too much impact. However, we have not received any answer from him.