Two-wheeled vehicles (motorcycles and bicycles), as well as buses over 12 meters in length, will continue to be unable to access the Las Cañadas del Teide at least until December, unless they do it at southern roads and return for those same ones, as announced yesterday by the counselor of Cabildo roadsDámaso Arteaga.
Vehicle users will be able to continue using all roads as long as they do not exceed 50 kilometers per hour on the TF-523 roads, from Arafo to the junction with the TF-24; the TF-24, which runs from La Esperanza to El Portillo, and the TF-21, which runs from La Orotava to El Portillo, when the burned wooden protections were removed for safety. Nor can the forest trails be used as they remain closed for work by Environmental agents, with serious damage after the fire that began on August 15 in Arafo and affected 15,000 hectares in 12 municipalities.
“We have had supply problems in obtaining safety barriers in the Canary Islands and we have requested them from two companies in the Peninsula to begin installing them between October and November, so they will not all be installed until December,” the counselor said yesterday on Onda Tenerife. Dámaso Arteaga, who also estimated that 17 kilometers were affected by these wooden and metal barriers, “especially on the TF-24 and TF-21 roads.”
Likewise, he indicated that the cost of its replacement “will exceed two million euros, as stated in the emergency work order.” Arteaga also recalled the importance of defenses, both metal and wood, on these roads, recalling that, “in the last two years, according to the Civil Guard, thanks to them, 24 out of 29 accidents have been prevented from leaving the roads.” . For this reason, he insisted that, now that those barriers are gone, it is vitally important to heed the recommendation of not exceeding 50 kilometers per hour given “the obvious risk posed by exiting the road at that height.”
Landslides in Las Lajas
Dámaso Arteaga acknowledged that the incident on Saturday night on the TF-5, in Las Lajas, between Icod de los Vinos and El Tanque, was “relevant,” as a slope detachment occurred in a “surprising manner,” because it had never occurred. One had occurred in that area, contrary to what happens on the same road near Los Realejos and San Juan de la Rambla. The Councilor for Highways pointed out that, in that landslide, which occurred after ten at night, “there were four cars involved and another on fire, although there were no serious injuries.”
The road was closed for work that same night to clean the hillside. Its opening took place at four in the afternoon on Sunday.
