The president of the councilPedro Martín, described yesterday as “important news” the approval of the Environmental Impact Statement, by the Department of Ecological Transition of the Government of the Canary Islands, of the project known as TF-5 varianta road that will run next to the Tenerife North airport “and will make a detour that will allow us to end the many traffic jams we have on that northern highway,” said Martín.
“With this declaration approved, in a few months the project can be put out to tender so that the works can begin and to solve one of the biggest traffic problems we have on the Island,” he emphasized in this regard.
The insular president recalled that, in addition, “another new environmental impact assessment will come next week to approve the section between Icod and San Juan de la Rambla”, of the insular ring, “to help us also relieve the traffic pressure suffered the TF-5. This and other projects will finally make us begin to see solutions to the traffic problem in Tenerife”.
For his part, the mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, also stressed that “we had been waiting 40 years for this great news for La Laguna and for the whole of Tenerife, and it will finally stop being a simple idea to become a reality ”.
“As mayor, I have always defended that the variant of the TF-5, which should not be confused with the Vía Exterior, will be a very important step to alleviate the traffic congestion that comes from the north of the Island towards the metropolitan area, but, above all, All in all, it is an action that will allow addressing the old aspiration of La Laguna to reunify the urban fabric of the city, now divided by the highway”, he valued.
Likewise, the councilor defended that “the variant will be a road that will run underground for the most part, so its affectation will be much less than initially expected, so we are confident that, after this impact statement, the project will come to fruition.” bidding as soon as possible.
However, not everyone is so in favor of the project. Thus, the general secretary of the Association of Farmers and Ranchers of the Canary Islands (Asaga), Theo Hernando, wanted to publicly denounce yesterday that the variant supposes “an abuse of the agricultural land of the Canary Islands.”
“What we see is that all the environmental policies and what we are sold about sustainability remain in good words, but when we really have to protect the little agricultural land that we have left in the Canary Islands, one of the most fertile soils we have in Tenerife, as that area of Los Rodeos is, instead of looking for alternatives on roads already created, such as the one that runs parallel to the airport, widening it, it is decided to cross the farms in half without any kind of consideration ”, he argued.
Theo Hernando pointed out that “it seems that when we talk about agricultural land, nobody is hurt or worried” and emphasized that “farmers and ranchers are already very tired of these urban abuses, which are also not going to solve anything, because in 5- 10 years from now we are going to have the same traffic problems, because a hole is being covered temporarily”.
They value resorting
For this reason, the association is studying the possibility of appealing the environmental impact statement, “because we have seen that the deadlines for public exposure have passed, in which we made several comments, and we are going to see how it can be appealed and Yes you can”.
However, from the Provincial Federation of Construction Entities (Fepeco), its president, Óscar Izquierdo, defended yesterday that the project “does the least possible territorial damage that a public work of these characteristics can do, because most of the work It is buried in a tunnel, and all the measures have been taken with the people and the territory in mind, which is why it has little or no impact on agricultural land”.
In this sense, he argued that the fact that “the environmental impact statement has been approved means that all measures have been taken so that there is a symbiosis between construction and territory.” “It has taken a very long procedure to prepare a very complicated project, with a public exhibition in which everyone has been able to participate and present all the allegations and they were all answered, some were admitted and others were rejected, and once That everything is already done is when now those of the no appear to reject ”, criticized Óscar Izquierdo.
“Important”
The president of Fepeco emphasized that “the work is important because it is not the absolute and perfect solution to end the queues on the TF-5, we all know that, but it is a part of the solution because it is complementary to other actions, such as the third lane on the Northern highway and the Bus-HOV lane, but the first thing to do is the bypass”.
In addition, he stressed that “it will mean a vent for traffic and greater fluidity for those coming from the North”, as well as “unify La Laguna territorially”, so for the municipality “it will be essential from an economic point of view And social”.
The TF-5 bypass project has a layout of about six kilometers between Guamasa and the Vía de Ronda roundabout, of which 4.1 will be carried out under a tunnel, in addition to another six false tunnels along the way, and represents an investment of 355 million.
