The annulled Santa Cruz Circulation and Mobility ordinance addressed for the first time the possibility of restricting the entry of vehicles into the capital for environmental reasons, security, or fluidity of circulation. That objective remained on the table once the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands declared the ordinance null and void, the same one that is now being taken up by the Santa Cruz City Council through European reconstruction funds, the so-called Next Generation. And it is that this week the Consistory has presented five lines of projects with which to convert the central area of the capital, which coincides with the so-called Urban area, into one of low emissions. Specifically, these are the initiatives called the Low Emission Zones and Mobility Transformation Implementation Plan, which are budgeted at more than 15 million euros, of which 9.4 million are expected to be covered with said European funds. .
The mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, thanked municipal workers for their efforts to reach this first call on time, which “I hope will allow us to build the foundations for the transformation of the city model, for a more accessible and sustainable one, as we announced last December ”.
The approved proposals are the result of the transversal work of different municipal areas, coordinated under a technical team created for this purpose before the summer. These proposals, to which others will be added depending on the different calls that are published, are part of the catalog of projects that the City Council announced in December 2020 and “which allows us to face the different calls with a clear idea of where we want the Santa Cruz of the future to go, above all, a more sustainable city with opportunities, prepared to face the recovery after the pandemic with guarantees ”, indicated Bermúdez.
These first projects respond to the call of the ministries of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA) and of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITRED), in charge of managing a part of said European funds, and that aim to promote sustainable mobility, less polluting, and therefore the improvement of the urban environment in the country.
The projects presented are the result of the work of municipal areas such as the Environment or Mobility, directed by Evelyn Alonso; or that of Public Services, directed by Guillermo Díaz Guerra. The areas of Works, Presidency and Planning or Housing and Finance, among others, also participate.
The proposals presented have to do with continuing with the expansion of the municipal fleet of electric vehicles, as well as the implementation of the infrastructure for their recharging, with a budget of 6.2 million, of which the EU is expected to contribute 2.9 .
Another line is the adaptation of public urban spaces to personal mobility vehicles and their coexistence, where appropriate, with the most conventional means of transport, for which it is expected to invest 1.7 million, of which 1 , 5 are requested from Europe.
Santa Cruz’s proposal also includes the redevelopment of two important streets in the city center, such as Imeldo Serís streets (already started) and La Rosa, which have a budget of almost 5.7 million euros, and for which European funding of around two million euros is expected.
