39% of the road network of The lagoon it is very inaccessible due to slope or width and only 27% of the road space is dedicated to pedestrians, in a municipality with a high level of motorization, with 555 cars per thousand inhabitants, although the figure is somewhat lower than the average for the Island ( 560), but higher than the state (526). These are some of the data collected in the diagnosis of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (PMUS) of the municipality, a study that was presented yesterday in the old convent of Santo Domingo.
This has been one of the central activities of the program of the European Mobility Week (SEM) of La Laguna, in which the new public bicycle rental system and the designation of La Laguna as a Cycling Friendly destination were also addressed. In addition, the program of the XV Transport Engineering Congress was presented, which will be held in the municipality from June 14 to 16, 2023.
The session was opened by the Councilor for Sustainable Mobility and Social Welfare, Rubens Ascanio; the insular director of Mobility of the Cabildo, José Alberto León Alonso; the Vice Chancellor of Research of the ULL, Ernesto Pereda, and the director of the Chair of Economy and Mobility of the ULL, Rosa Marina González. Rubens Ascanio recalled that the SUMP constitutes “a fundamental planning tool for the integrated management of mobility and resources in a locality with a motorization index higher than the Spanish average, which will allow us to agree on mobility policies with the different actors and establish a vision for the next ten years, but also with short-term performances”.
The SUMP will be developed in several phases after the aforementioned diagnosis, for which factors such as demographic and economic trends, roads, land use, public transport, private traffic, parking and urban distribution of goods, among others, have been taken into account.
Soon, a community process will begin to incorporate the demands of citizens.
Likewise, the IV School Mobility Forum also took place yesterday, in the Hall of Degrees of the Faculty of Education, and the debate talk The reconquest of public space, in the teacher’s room of the Guajara Lecture Hall. Meanwhile, this Saturday the day dedicated to bicycles will be celebrated, which, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., will fill Heraclio Sánchez street with activities.