The most delicate section of the Island Ring of Tenerife roads continues to generate mystery. Although last January the Environmental Impact Statement (DIA) by the previous Government regional route that leads from Icod to San Juan de la Ramblathe new regional Executive and the Council island maintain total secrecy, which will finally lead to drafting and bidding for this road between Los Realejos and Icod, the last of a key highway to lighten connections between the North and South, contribute to reducing queues to the metropolitan area and improve communication in much of the North and Southwest.
That silence is what, at least, the two administrations have demonstrated NOTICE DIARY in recent weeks, after insistent requests for clarification on the final decision regarding works that already sparked considerable controversy two decades ago, when a route with a double tunnel, aqueducts and large columns was presented that many understood as unviable and destructive of the three protected spaces through which it will pass: Campeches, Tigaiga and Barranco Ruiz, between San Juan de la Rambla and Los Realejos.
While the new Department of Public Works, Transport and Housing limits itself to highlighting that the drafting of the project remains to be put out to tender, without going into whether changes are proposed, what type and what is the final bet for the layout, from the Tenerife Cabildo, where It seemed that there was more intention to reveal contents, finally they referred to the press release issued after the plenary session in which the situation of the island’s roads was addressed, on October 27. A statement in which it is barely assured that, based on the agreement approved that day on the execution of the roads with 8 points, the Government of the Canary Islands is “requested to agree with the Cabildo on the solution of the project (…) of the TF-5 from Los Realejos to Icod when starting the works after the appropriate processing (…)”.
Until now, and after the double tunnel or the very impressive viaducts in San Juan de la Rambla and other sections were discarded due to doubts in Europe and the growing opposition of parties, environmentalists and neighborhood platforms (IU and The Greens mobilized in Brussels), The Cabildo’s commitment (with more emphasis on the stage of Ricardo Melchior when verifying the rejection of such a work) was for the acceleration lanes, as there is already in that area just above Socorro beach (Los Realejos) .
However, and as it was left until the end of the Insular Ring precisely because it is the most complex section and the potential for controversy, it has never been fully realized in recent years, leaving many unknowns and, for the moment, the The silence of the new regional and island governments only reinforces them.
The last news regarding this delicate section occurred on January 24, when the then Regional Ministry of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning, through the Environmental Assessment Commission, reported favorably on the Declaration of Environmental Impact (DIA) for the update of the project of layout and construction of the closure of the Island Ring of San Juan de la Rambla and Icod, although without entering into the most sensitive part, that of the three protected areas (basically, in Los Realejos ).
The favorable declaration came after carrying out the relevant public information procedure and consultation with all affected administrations and people involved, as well as after collecting the mandatory reports from the services.
SPACIOUS CONDITIONS
Among other conditions, this EIS requires the preparation of a study of air quality “in pre-operational states, as a starting point and for comparison with the situations that occur in the construction and operation phases.” Likewise, and with respect to noise pollution, it establishes that, in all phases of the project, “a noise measurement point must be added to those already proposed and additional documentation for the monitoring and control of possible noise effects.”
Furthermore, and once the construction project of the future highway has been defined (which is what remains pending and is key), “which includes all the detailed and precise information of the final action (…), it will be in a position to prepare an Annex for Environmental Restoration and Landscape Integration, which must include the considerations and conditions provided by the different public administrations that have reported on the matter.”
The reserves and care for the impact of this section from Icod to San Juan de la Rambla are very extensive, despite not being the most delicate part. In fact, this EIS also highlights that, “prior to the start of the works and during the verification phase of the layout, a professional with a technical profile specializing in Canarian flora-vegetation and fauna must carry out “new surveys and inventories of vegetation and flora, as well as birds and bats for the entire route of the future road.”
The preventive measures for this part also include an Environmental Monitoring Program that, “as long as it does not contradict the conditions of said inventory on flora and fauna,” will be considered an integral part of the favorable EIS, although another is required for the pending.
