The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, yesterday supervised the work that the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Mobility is developing in the so-called Tenerife Island Ring, between the towns of El Tanque and Santiago del Teide, where nearly 60 % of allocated budget.
During the visit he was accompanied by the Minister of Public Works, Pablo Rodríguez; the president of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Dávila, and by directors and authorities of both administrations, traveling, for the first time, through the tunnel, whose traffic is expected to attract more than 17,000 vehicles daily in the year of commissioning, as detailed the Government in a statement.
This project, whose investment currently amounts to 256 million euros, has already executed 56% of its initial budget, paying 144,951,731 euros until September 2023.
The works were drafted in November 2019 and completion is scheduled for March 2025.
Fernando Clavijo highlighted the importance of this connection for the island of Tenerife. “We awarded this work in 2019, Pablo Rodríguez being Minister of Public Works, and it will provide Tenerife residents with an infrastructure that includes the longest double tunnel in the Canary Islands, which will help alleviate current traffic problems and thus improve the situation. socioeconomic and environmental of the Island,” he assured.
For his part, Pablo Rodríguez pointed out that this route will allow “closing both corridors”, thus giving continuity to the actions already carried out previously. With this, it is possible to connect the island routes TF-1 and TF-5 to the west, at the same time replacing the TF-82 in that section, which represents “a substantial improvement in safety and reduces travel time. in half with fluid traffic.”
The president of the Cabildo, Rosa Dávila, highlighted the enormous technical complexity of the work, in addition to the work in three shifts of more than 100 people in the execution of the project. “It is essential for the closure of the Island Ring to the west, which connects TF-1 with TF-5, and it will be very important for the transfer of mobility on the island from a part of the north (TF-5) to the south (TF-1)”, he stressed.
“The implementation of this project will represent a fundamental engine of growth by facilitating the transfers of goods and services with this part of the island and will mean a before and after, being one of the most relevant works in the history of the Canary Islands. ”, noted Clavijo.
5,095 meters each
The Erjos tunnel consists of two parallel tubes with a length of 5,095 meters each, of which 4,855 meters correspond to a mine tunnel; 140, a false tunnel in the south mouth, and 100, a false tunnel in the north mouth. To date, a distance of 1,780.16 meters of the Erjos tunnel has been excavated in the Santiago del Teide direction and 1,315.09 meters in the El Tanque direction.
The Minister of Public Works added that the work generates 102 direct jobs and 204 indirect jobs, in three work shifts per day, seven days a week.
Furthermore, environmental measures worth 18 million euros have been adopted in this project to guarantee sustainability and respect for the environment. In this sense, the restoration of the abandoned quarries of La Grama and the Bilma mountain, in the vicinity of Santiago del Teide, has been carried out, as well as the manufacture of concrete, asphalt and the formation of esplanades with the leftover material of tunnel drilling.
Another of the planned points is the construction of an edge park that isolates the center of Santiago del Teide from the effects of the new highway. Measures such as the restoration of habitats of community interest and the change in the structure that saves the Barranco Hondo to protect the habitats of community interest in the area are also contemplated.
