Free way to the construction of Line 4 of the tram from San Matías to Añaza

The public company Metrotenerife, dependent on the Island Corporation, will put out to tender the drafting of the project for the construction of this Line 4 of the tram once the island budgets for next year come into force. The new layout, which will be added to lines 1 –Intercambiador de Santa Cruz-La Trinidad de La Laguna– and 2 –Tíncer-La Cuesta–, will extend over more than six kilometers and will have seven new stops, linking the University Hospital of La Candelaria with the neighborhood of Añaza.

an expanding area

The Vice President of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Minister of Mobility and President of Metrotenerife, Enrique Arriaga, anticipates that this new light rail route will be a great leap in public transport in one of the most populated areas of the Island: Forecasts point to a demand of more than 1,250,000 passengers a year and will prevent the emission of 32 tons of pollution –CO2– into the atmosphere in 12 months. “It will help to integrate the neighborhoods with the urban centers of Santa Cruz and La Laguna and will bring them closer to the largest health complexes on the Island – the Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria University Hospital (hunsc) and the University Hospital of Canary Islands (HUC)–, as well as the Guajara de la University of La Laguna», Arriaga points out.

It will be the second expansion of the tenerife tram since the main line came into operation on June 2, 2007, now 15 years ago. On Canary Islands Day 2009, the first extension, Line 2, was inaugurated. A total of 3.8 kilometers of which 2.3 are newly laid out. The rest runs a common section with Line 1, with two shared stops. It runs between Tíncer and La Cuesta, an area with a high population density and under development, as numerous houses are being built. The area of ​​the second extension, which has just begun its long administrative process, has similar characteristics.

The first step, the drafting of the project announced by Enrique Arriaga, will have an item of 600,000 euros in the accounts of the Tenerife Corporation for next year. “Line 4 will favor the movement of the inhabitants of the Southwest district, will encourage less use of private vehicles and will increase connectivity in this area, which is the area with the greatest potential for growth and expansion in Santa Cruz, thus allowing its development in a harmonious manner. »stressed the insular vice president.

Enrique Arriaga explained that in parallel to the drafting of this project, the urban planning will be modified to include these new tram rails. “Now the actions begin so that in the next term the works can begin if the political leaders who are at that moment deem it appropriate,” added the person in charge of public transport in the Tenerife Cabildo.

12 months to do the project

The writing of this project will have a period of 12 months. “This is the first action to continue expanding and improving the tram network, a decision made in consensus with the government team of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council, which will be followed by others considered of primary interest for the Island to offer means of efficient, punctual and sustainable public transport”, explained the vice-president.

This new Line 4 of the tram leaves from the Line 1 stop of the Hospital Universitario de Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria towards the neighborhoods of the Southwest. After crossing the Tenerife Norte highway, it will run along the Ofra–El Chorrillo road –pending completion– to the location of the first of its stops, which will serve the Las Moraditas neighborhood in Taco. Always maintaining the layout of the Ofra-El Chorrillo regional road, the layout of this Line 4 will run to the neighborhood of San Matías, where the second stop is located.

Once you have crossed over the TF-2, the highway that connects the North and South highways, the third stop is located in the El Draguillo neighborhood, from which Punta de Anaga street takes to reach the Santa María del Mar neighborhood, where the fourth stop is located .

Stop at Santa Maria del Mar

After the Santa María del Mar stop, it continues along Calle Punta de Anaga until the end of its route, where it curves to the southwest to continue along the Tenerife Science and Technology Park urbanization. It runs along the main roads of the aforementioned urbanization to reach the location of the future Santa María del Mar Interchange, of the Tren del Sur de Tenerife.

The fifth stop on the route is located at this location in Santa María del Mar, promoting a future exchange of passengers between the railway infrastructures (Line 4 of the tramway–Tren del Sur de Tenerife). The TF-1 motorway crossing is carried out by reusing an old existing underpass at the Santa María del Mar junction, currently condemned since the expansion to three lanes of the aforementioned motorway.

In the Añaza neighborhood, it is expected to run along Avenida Luis Celso García Guadalupe and along Rambla de Añaza, according to Metrotenerife plans. The sixth and seventh stops of this new line will be located on this last track, serving one of the most populous neighborhoods in the municipality of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

While Line 4 has experienced great progress, the Mobility area of ​​the Island Corporation is working on Line 3, which would link the Fairgrounds with the North Pier, to “find the necessary consensus and close an agreement with the Santa Cruz City Council of Tenerife”, reports Enrique Arriaga. The initial intention is for this route to be extended to the Las Teresitas beach, but reports from island technicians have raised doubts about the profitability of this expansion. Another expansion, which is still in the air, is that of Line 1 to the Tenerife North airport, which still does not have the consensus of the lagoons.