The Sustainable Mobility and Environment areas of the La Laguna City Council have recently completed the first community process for the implementation of the first Low Emission Zones (ZBE) in the municipality, which are planned in Camino la Villa, San Honorato and Casco, neighborhoods with high pressure on public space and parking and where the municipality is committed to a model of recovery and improvement of public space as opposed to the option of access control through environmental labeling of vehicles, which does not takes into account the socioeconomic conditions of the territories.
For several weeks, the areas have exposed all the details of these pilot projects and have collected the proposals and suggestions of the neighborhood associations of Casco, Camino Real de la Villa, Tamarco, Barrio del Carmen, Los Molinos San Honorato, as well as the educational community of CEIP Camino la Villa.
From the City Council, they highlight the positive reception of a model that is committed to rearrangements and actions to calm traffic, with the closure of some roads and the elimination of heavy traffic; the implementation of the Green Parking Zone for residents, as well as Limited Parking Zones (ZEL), creating places with high and low turnover, in addition to improvements in bus connections and pedestrianization, among other actions.
Likewise, La Laguna shares the philosophy of the Network of Walking Cities, to which it is attached, and which considers that the option of access control through environmental labeling of vehicles does not take into account the socioeconomic conditions of the territories and is of a model that can generate inequalities and an economic bias. Faced with this situation, it is committed to a model of recovery and improvement of the public space by which, while the specific regulatory ordinance and the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan are being developed, in which it has been working for more than half a year, with a high participation community, and which will be presented in March, these three basic projects have been drafted.
“We want the LEZs of La Laguna to have the greatest possible consensus, especially from the residents of the selected neighborhoods. And, after an in-depth study, supported by professionals in the sector, we have decided to bet on a model of deterrence measures with which we want to avoid forms of discrimination that deepen situations of vulnerability and which, in addition, is considered as a fundamental measure to advance in the necessary change in the mobility pyramid, which will be accompanied by various proposals to promote travel on foot, by bicycle and by public transport”, explained the Councilor for Sustainable Mobility, Rubens Ascanio.
For the development of these three pilot projects, the first phase of the environmental measurement network is already in operation, with three sensors installed. In addition, studies are already being carried out on the operation of the Limited Parking Zone, the loading and unloading plan or the projects to expand pedestrian spaces, etc.
