The third anti-jam lane that promotes Government of the Canary Islands to decongest the northern highway Tenerifebetween Santa Cruz and La Orotava, costs more than 280 million euros. To get an idea of the cost that must be faced with public money to solve the serious problem of queues on the TF-5, just with this project, It is the money that three Airbus 320 commercial planes, 56 luxury villas and 14,000 mid-range cars cost.
It is technically known as a bus-vao lane for the exclusive use of buses, taxis and other vehicles with more than two occupants. The regional Executive has just published the plan to implement and manage this third path of 34.2 kilometers, one for each direction, which is committed to ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) technology. This method allows the reservation of the two left lanes in both directionsattached to the median, for the circulation of high-occupancy vehicles without there being physical separation and without losing road capacity.
In parallel, the Department of Public Works and Mobility of the Canary Islands Government develops the project to build the third lane from Guamasa to La Orotava. The work will be from this point in La Laguna near the Tenerife North airport to the Orotava municipality because the highway already has between three and four lanes from the capital to the university town. The implementation of the bus-vao, with the signage and the corresponding management system, will cost 8.8 million euros, to which must be added the 1.7 million that the drafting of the project cost. The largest amount goes to the construction of the third path, including expropriations: 271 million euros.
Francis González, Deputy Minister of Infrastructures of the regional Executive, assures that all the technical reports carried out so far point to this anti-queue lane as “the best solution” for unjam the TF-5 and put an end to a problem that tends to last forever. “It is a strategy that has been studied for a long time to improve the mobility of Tenerife,” she says.
“In the current circumstances, the bet must go through the third lane and the implementation of a system that prioritizes buses and other high-occupancy vehicles,” González details, adding: “The fundamental thing about this system is that the use of the public transport. I am a user – I take the bus – and I think it is the best solution in an island territory like Tenerife, fragmented and congested, which we cannot continue to crush.”
A combination of factors collapses the two highways, especially the one in the North but also the one in the South. The lines from Guamasa to El Sauzal are now routine, both in the direction of Santa Cruz and to the North. The Island has almost one vehicle per inhabitant –792,350 for a population of 950,000–, the TF-5 and its connections were designed without taking into account this boom in inhabitants and engines –125,000 trucks, buses, cars and motorcycles They even pass one of the black spots in one day, the Padre Anchieta de La Laguna roundabout, and the dispersion of population centers and the lack of citizen awareness complicate the deployment of effective public transport.
The study that has just been released to public information, and which will allow those affected – public administrations, entities and individuals – to present allegations regarding the implementation of this system, clearly supports the third anti-traffic lane. «From previous studies on the implementation of various solutions to improve the fluidity of the TF-5, it is concluded that the bus-vao solution encourages the use of public transport, the effect on fluidity is more stable over time than the mere expansion of road capacity and the cost-benefit analysis presents good ratios compared to other solutions,” the report states.
The third platform from the capital to La Orotava reserved for buses and cars with two or more occupants will have 5 accesses and 16 stops, in addition to an intelligent control system that will allow its use in the time slots with the most traffic saturation. It includes the construction of park and ride facilities and takes into account other planned infrastructure, such as the TF-5 variant between Padre Anchieta and Los Rodeos, a road from Guamasa to the Vía de Ronda that borders the Los Rodeos airport on the side of the Hope road.
The La Laguna variant
The lagoon government, led by Luis Yeray Gutiérrezdefends this variant because «Tenerife needs to put an end to traffic jams and I am convinced that this infrastructure is the best solution for La Laguna, because it will allow us to remove more than 80,000 vehicles a day from our urban fabric and reunify our city, today divided by the TF-5 motorway, respecting agricultural land and population centers of the area, as is the case of La Costurera”, according to the mayor.
The third anti-queue lane will reduce traffic on the Northern highway in percentages that range, depending on the different sections, from 10 to 45%. This indicates the study that is already available to those affected, which makes it very clear that building more platforms without dissuasive measures such as the bus-vao “is losing effect over time as mobility grows.” “Scenarios with an alternative system such as bus-vao are more efficient over time and better support mobility growth,” he emphasizes.
He Council of Tenerife He prefers not to comment on this specific plan for now until he analyzes it carefully, although those responsible have already stated that they support any solution that involves promoting public transport. Other public entities have given their approval, such as the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), for which this solution “seeks balance considering budgetary restrictions, the overview of mobility beyond the private vehicle and an implementation in a relatively quick time frame.
The buses in Spain
The number of bus-vao lanes in Spain is still small. They are only found in the cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Granada. Other places value its installation, such as Seville in the town of Aljarafe, Valencia or the aforementioned Tenerife project on the TF-5. The latter has accelerated in recent years due to constant citizen complaints about traffic jams. While the allegations regarding the implementation of the bus-vao system are awaited, the Government is further advanced in the construction of the third lanes from Guamasa to La Orotava.
The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of the regional Executive clarifies regarding the construction of this third platform that “the allegations have already been made and some town councils need to complete the information they must provide to the project.” «Then we will have to address the allegations, negotiate, respond, analyze them with those who have made them. That work is done now. Once this process is finished, the final project will be submitted for approval, the works will be awarded and its execution will begin,” concludes González.
Detours continue in Padre Anchieta
The Cabildo of Tenerife maintains the detours due to the construction works of a new pedestrian walkway at the Padre Anchieta roundabout, in La Laguna. Jobs try to end the funnel effect from this point, which is one of the most saturated on the Northern Highway (TF-5) and causes significant traffic jams. The work affects the left lane of Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez at the access to the Padre Anchieta roundabout that runs towards the Science faculties of the University of La Laguna, so two detours have been enabled: one for access to the aforementioned roundabout on the right lane of Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez and another on TF-25 and TF-265 to access said avenue from the Padre Anchieta roundabout. The effects of the works in this area will continue until 6:00 p.m. on Friday the 29th. The Minister of Highways, Dámaso Arteaga, points out that with the start of classes and the greater intensity of traffic at certain points it is “necessary to remember to the users, especially of the Padre Anchieta roundabout and the link, that one of the directions will be closed because the installation works of the bases of the pedestrian walkways are being carried out. “It is important to convey a message to drivers of caution and caution, and to generally pay attention to traffic indications in all this environment that is subject, as in other parts of the Island at this time, to specific works to improve safety. situation of the roads on the island of Tenerife. | ED
