The Governing Board of the La Laguna City Council has approved the first Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (PMUS) for the municipality, which will make it possible to apply for European funds to improve public transport, promote bike lanes and create new pedestrian areas.
The Councilor for Sustainable Mobility, Rubens Ascanio, highlighted in a statement that the SUMP is going to mean “a total change in the municipality, a new conception of the ways in which we move and interact” but also of the image of roads and public spaces, Therefore, from the drafting phase, citizen participation has been prioritized with the aim of agreeing on the design and scope of the measures included in this document.
The SUMP strategic lines include, among its objectives, achieving safer mobility with a 50% reduction in injuries in traffic accidents; more sustainable, reducing greenhouse gases by 23%; and also, more efficient, shared and accessible.
The document makes “a clear commitment” to a modal system that inverts the current pyramid, where the majority base is made up of private vehicles, and passes to a majority of pedestrians, followed by public transport, micromobility (bikes, VMP), essential mobility by motorized vehicle (ambulances, security, taxis, logistics and cargo transport), efficient mobility by motorized vehicle (shared, electric, park-and-ride to use public transport) and, finally, the private car.
According to the results of the various surveys and participatory actions carried out for the drafting of the plan, almost 72% of the population would be willing to stop using the private vehicle in favor of more sustainable means of transport, which opens “a clear path of improvement” if the appropriate policies and measures are applied, adds the City Council.
The concrete actions include the creation of the so-called “superblocks”, that is, grouped residential streets, with reduced speeds inside and limited access.
The priority nuclei for the implementation of the model would be La Cuesta, Finca España, Taco-San Matías and the neighborhoods included in the ZBE pilot projects (el Casco, Camino la Villa, San Honorato), with a progressive transformation associated with the least impact .
In addition, various measures and actions are included to improve mobility on foot with new pedestrian areas, removal of physical barriers, rearrangement of street furniture and better connections between neighborhoods, with 26 preferred pedestrian routes and 35 complementary pedestrian routes.
It includes the conversion into a street of the sections of the TF-13 and TF-16 as they pass through an urban area (with traffic calming measures, pedestrian crossings, improved signage and sidewalks); the incorporation of new technologies, such as illuminated zebra crossings, beacons and intelligent traffic lights, the inclusion of safe pedestrian school routes, changes in traffic management and School Traffic Zones.
In addition, it is committed to promoting cyclist mobility, with the execution of the cycling network (already planned), a signaling plan for cycle paths, the expansion of the already large network of bicycle parking spaces by 380% and the creation of a public bicycle loan system, also electric.
The SUMP also includes measures that must be budgeted for promoting the use of public transport, with a restructuring of the urban network that will include the increase in frequencies, improvements to information services and waiting areas, in addition to the implementation of bus lanes, high-frequency circular lines and three new interchanges in Los Rodeos, Las Canteras and Taco.
Another important aspect is the sustainable management of parking, which is proposed through the implementation of regulated areas to facilitate access and permanence of their vehicles for residents.
In addition, a network of deterrent parking spaces is included at the accesses to the city, the incorporation of an information and guidance system to the car parks as well as a mixed plan (residential+rotation) in areas with a shortage of spaces.
