The Hospital del Sur, in the municipality of Arona, will have a direct access road for vehicles coming from the municipalities of Adeje, Guía de Isora and Santiago del Teide, thus avoiding having to go down to the upper roundabout of Los Cristianos and then go back up to the hospital, in the upper area of El Mojón.
In this way, the traffic coming from the southwest area of the Island will not flow into the roundabout at the entrance to Los Cristianos, which registers large traffic jams and collapses at certain hours, and the times in urgent transfers of patients to the hospital are shortened. Someone has already died during the journey.
The new link will directly connect the roundabout from Siam Park and will pass through a tunnel under the road that goes down from Arona, with which it will be linked. The work has been included in the expansion project of the South highway (TF-1), in the section between Playa de Las Américas and Oroteanda, nine kilometers long, which is undergoing the supervision phase, a mandatory passage for its final approval before going to public tender, probably within a month.
The 10-kilometer Las Chafiras-San Isidro section is in a similar situation, the second project included between Playa de Las Américas and San Isidro. Both sections are relatively simple and are considered quick works, as they involve the construction of a third lane in each direction. Both projects were delivered to the Ministry of Public Works on June 20 for review and approval, if applicable, first by the supervising technicians and then definitively, to be sent to the Contracting department.
The outgoing general director of Road Infrastructure, José Luis Delgado, pointed out that the inclusion of the new direct connection to the hospital is “an act of justice” with the inhabitants of the southwest of Tenerife. “Those of us from the area know what it means,” he said. In his farewell from office, he was convinced that the road works that have been promoted in the last four years “will mark a before and after” on the Island and he is confident that the replacement in the Ministry will not cause any delay in the processing. of ongoing projects.
Work is currently being carried out on the Erjos double tunnel, which will connect the North and South under the Teno massif and which is expected to open to traffic at the end of 2024. The two mouths of one of the tunnels were already found last month and the second gallery is expected to be finished in August.
Other projects underway in the southern region are the second lane between Santiago del Teide and Erques, currently in the process of public and environmental information; the section of the TF-1 motorway between Playa de Las Américas and Fañabé (on hold due to a dispute between two companies), and the third lane between Valle de Güímar and San Isidro, a project already awarded, although not delivered, with a drafting period of 18 months.
