Alleviating the traffic of the TF-5 directly connecting the north with the south of the Island is the way. At least that is clear from the information provided yesterday by the Canary Islands authorities regarding the crash plan planned to resolve the chaos that traffic has become in Tenerife since the last century, when the traffic jams that TF-5 users continue to suffer from.
This was explained yesterday by the president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, and his Roads adviser, Sebastián Franquis, at a press conference held together with the president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Pedro Martín, where they detailed the projects promoted and already awarded (technical and/or or work) in this legislature, in order for the Island “to get on time and make up for lost time” with respect to the modernization of its public roads and the maximum improvement of road mobility, especially in regions such as that of the North, due to the retention problems in the aforementioned TF-5.
Thus, Torres stressed that, in contrast to the almost absence of projects drafted during the previous legislature, in these three years 13 of the 16 projects planned for Tenerife in the 2018-2027 Road Agreement have been awarded, which represents 81%. of the initiatives considered. On the same Island, 7.3 million euros have already been allocated to the drafting of technical projects and works worth 353.3 million have been awarded, which implies an unprecedented effort and “demonstrates the total commitment” of the regional Executive in solving one of the main problems of Tenerife, “as we promised at the beginning of this legislature”.
By far, the most interesting thing about the public appearance seems to be what was reviewed by Pedro Martín, who explained that the three main works to solve the “mess” of the TF-5 are the variant of La Laguna, the third lane Guamasa-La Orotava and the section of the San Juan de la Rambla-Icod island ring road, plus the closure to the west (El Tanque-Santiago del Teide section), with the Erjos tunnel already at 70% and completion of the work forecast for March 2025. With this project -said Martín-, some 30,000 vehicles will go to the South through that area, which would contribute to decongesting the TF-5.
highway agreement
Torres stressed the relevance that the unblocking of the conflict linked to the previous Highway Agreement has had in this legislature, which, to be honest, has been possible thanks to the initiative that the Executive led by Paulino Rivero (CC ), who brought to the Supreme Court the flagrant breach of the commitments made by the then Government of Spain (led by Mariano Rajoy -PP-) and which led to the resolution of the aforementioned High Court in favor of the interests of the Canary Islands.
As Torres stressed, for this the negotiation with the central government has been key, so that the prosecution was avoided for non-compliance with the previous Agreement by the PP government. Now, thanks to the agreement reached, to the 1,200 million to invest and justify in 2027 of the agreement in force another 407 are added, while another 500 million of surplus (with which almost 1,000 are completed) have been able to be used in general expenses , in what the Government of the Canary Islands considers most relevant.
Torres considers it very relevant that, of those 1,200 million of the current agreement (without adding the 407), 353.3 have already been awarded for roads in Tenerife. The president also announced that the necessary addendum to complete said agreement will be signed shortly with the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez.
The Government trusts that this
month the environmental report of the lagoon variant is approved
It could not be otherwise. As much as they are aware of inheriting a disastrous management by the Canary Islands Coalition, which lasted for decades, the president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres; His Minister for Highways, Sebastián Franquis, and the president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Pedro Martín, showed yesterday, without making direct reference to it, their understanding of the discomfort of thousands of Tenerife residents who suffer traffic jams every day on the popularly known Autopista del North (TF-5), at the same time that they indicated that what has been done in these three years on roads in Tenerife is the “grayest and least visible part”, that of preparing complex technical projects and overcoming procedures such as declarations of environmental impact. However, they insisted that this part is essential to start the works, while recalling that, in most cases and except for the Las Chafiras-Oroteanda work (in the south of the island), there were no projects drafted.
In his speech, the president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Pedro Martín, assured that the “most serious” mobility problem on the Island is concentrated in the TF-5, “where neither projects nor budgets existed.” For this reason, “from the Cabildo de Tenerife we have insisted on the importance of focusing on solving the problems of this road, which go through three works: the La Laguna bypass, the closure of the Insular Ring in the section from San Juan de la Rambla-Icod and the third lane from La Orotava to Guamasa”. Martín stressed that these three projects are already finished, pending environmental evaluation, “and they represent three fundamental steps to finish decongesting the TF-5 and see that radical change that we are waiting for in the communications of our Island.”
Along these lines, the island president announced that “we will continue to hold monthly meetings to monitor these projects. My confidence is that these three actions advance and that next year will be the start of the works, which is what the citizens of this Island expect”.
In the same press conference, Sebastián Franquis stressed that, of the 16 road projects included in the 2018-2027 Highway Agreement for Tenerife, 13 have already been tendered and awarded, that is, 81% of those that are in the Agreement, and four of those 13 projects are already in the construction phase. The Minister of Public Works added that his department, so far this legislature, has awarded works and projects worth 360.7 million euros on the Island. Breaking down that figure, only in works (closure of the Island Ring, false tunnel Las Américas and PIPRA Santiago del Teide) 353.3 million euros have been invested in this legislature, while 7.3 million were invested in the development and awarding of technical projects.
The Ministry of Public Works has already awarded five projects in the southern region of Tenerife, mainly to provide a third lane to the TF-1, from Güímar to Playa de Las Américas, that is, 55 kilometers more.
