At the end of 2019, a group of businessmen, professionals and citizens from the north of Tenerife, led by Iván Rodríguez de Azero, promoted the creation of Alisios Norte, a non-profit association that works to give a common voice to the North, capable of channeling the most consensual demands of the civil society of the region, “without political affinities or in defense of particular interests”.
Is helping to end the tails of the TF-5 one of the main objectives of Alisios Norte?
Yes, although our main objective has always been for the North to have a voice that represents the interests of the citizenry. Something that the South does have and that we, unfortunately, have not had. Faced with this lack, we took a step forward. We already move a lot of people and more and more are seeing us as a possible way to communicate or convey some of the problems that beset us.
How did the non-profit association Alisios Norte come about?
Well, precisely because of that lack. We attended meetings and meetings in the South of other associations, for work reasons, and there they told us that in the North we had nothing to put pressure on and that good things would happen in this area of the island. We got bugged and talking one day with friends, colleagues and acquaintances, we decided to take a step forward to try to set up this association linked to civil society, since it is not a business association at all. We are open to anyone who is interested and wants to fight and collaborate for the good of the North. Because behind all this there is a lot of work and little budget. Little by little the word has spread, people are joining us and now we have a group with a lot of people, who participate through chat and meetings in which we discuss problems, propose communication strategies and propose solutions. Always in a constructive tone and in a totally apolitical way. We do not have any partisan ties and in the association there are people of all tendencies.
How many people actively participate in Alisios Norte?
Well, currently we are about 130 people actively participating, and many more who follow us.
And the TF-5 is one of their current workhorses…
We had many issues that we wanted to address, such as social, cultural, economic and environmental development issues… but the reality is that at this time, the traffic jams on the TF-5 have become an absolutely priority issue. At least help to alleviate them. We are concerned that in the last 30 years nothing has been done and we believe that this has to stop. Why it is not done? We don’t know. We know that there are no simple solutions, but we are exactly the same. The other day we shared a news item from Antena 3 from 22 years ago that talked about the traffic jams on the TF-5 exactly as they are now. Nothing has changed. Okay, yes; We have changed for the worse.
They recently presented a manifesto with proposals to end the traffic jams on the TF-5, what do they propose?
Infrastructure works are necessary, such as the Bus Vao lane or the trains, but we cannot wait for them to be carried out. The other day the insular vice-president Enrique Arriaga spoke of beginning to see results in 2028. And that caused tremendous uneasiness among the people who suffer these queues. We cannot wait six or seven more years in this situation. That is why we understood that we had to intervene to make proposals and play small keys that help improve the situation. The first, simple if there is will and imagination, would be to change hours of institutions such as the University of La Laguna (ULL). We already met with the rector. We know that it is not easy, but it should be studied carefully because, without the ULL being responsible for the queues, it could help to solve this problem to a large extent. It would be enough to implement a few hours of online classes. By being creative, solutions can be found. The second proposal, if the technicians estimate it, would be to enable a reversible Bus Vao lane on the TF-5, taking advantage of one of the two lanes in the North direction. Arriaga commented that it is not viable and we know that a failed test was carried out twelve years ago. However, we believe that with good communication and planning, it could help to change the perspective and people opt for car sharing or public transport.
Is it necessary to change the way of moving on the island?
We need to change our culture of mobility because we are used to traveling alone in the car. When I was studying at the University of La Laguna, everyone shared a car every day. Now it doesn’t happen that way. 85% of the cars that pass through the TF-5 are with a single occupant. And that can’t be. You have to make people aware.
What other proposals do you make in your manifesto?
The creation of an insular mobility table where all the actors involved are represented and where the works and solutions are addressed, with light and stenographers. Or the improvement of public transport, which must be more efficient and have more frequencies. Now, first thing in the morning, people go standing up in the bus and sometimes even stay outside. The price is not the determining factor; It helps, but the key is to have a quality service. Another proposal is to decentralize services and avoid trips to the University Hospital of Canary Islands when there is an underutilized Northern Hospital. Health could also move teams in the opposite direction of traffic jams to reduce displacement. They are small measures that can help solve the problem, such as increasing the human and material resources of the Civil Guard of Traffic, so that the intervention in case of accidents is expedited. Our manifesto is open to support from public and private entities, and we continue to collect signatures through Change.org to make visible the problem of queues on the TF-5.
Has the short-term policy been an obstacle in resolving the traffic problem?
Well it can be. I understand that there are those who think that executing these works can have a political cost, but I still do not understand why it has not been done before knowing that it was something crucial. Right now the biggest problem that the island of Tenerife It’s traffic jams, on the TF-5 and also on the TF-1. It is a problem that affects citizens and also to companies, which lose competitiveness because they have their workers and vehicles stopped on the highway, with the cost to the environment that this also entails.
What other issues does your association work on?
The other day we participated in a Fepeco meeting with the mayors of the Northwest of the island and there the enormous deficiencies suffered by the municipalities located between San Juan de la Rambla and Buenavista del Norte were made clear. They have brutal problems with water supply, sanitation and also traffic… And we believe that Alisios can serve to help solve all these problems in the Northwest, where we also have representatives. In addition, we are committed to defending sustainable development and the landscape; for the improvement of the road communications network; better management of drinking and irrigation water; sanitation and wastewater treatment; safety; culture, or education, since we believe that bilingualism is something absolutely essential for an island like Tenerife.
