Chairwoman of Tenerife Island Council, Rosa Dávila, announces the closure of the Guamasa link with TF-5 during peak hours in the early morning, between six and nine in the morning. It is the result of a pilot test carried out in October and November of last year, whose benefit in reducing the volume of vehicles towards the capital, Santa Cruz, is endorsed, as previously reported by EL DIA, by a technical report from the General Traffic Directorate (DGT).
The test carried out in late 2023 lasted ten days in a stretch of just four kilometers. The report concludes that traffic improved between 15% and 20%, where the flow of about 20,000 cars was improved without any accidents.
The next step will be to carry out improvement works in the access to the TF-5 of the area with three lanes of Guamasa. The works are expected to last between six and eight months.
Dávila values working hand in hand with the DGT and the Civil Guard when it comes to taking relatively quick measures to alleviate the recurrent traffic jams on both highways, in this case on the North one.
The chairwoman announces that during today, she will meet again with the parties involved in this action, basically the residents of Guamasa or El Ortigal, in La Laguna, who have shown their reluctance to the closure.
Other measures
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Among other measures taken by the Council to end the traffic chaos in Tenerife is the recent approval of the tender for the express towing service for the highways of the North (TF-5) and South (TF-1). The initiative aims to facilitate agile intervention on both roads in case of accidents or breakdowns to avoid traffic jams.
The Council, together with the General Traffic Directorate and the Civil Guard, is currently analyzing the most suitable locations to place the tow trucks, which will presumably be located near the so-called black spots on both highways. The objective of the measure is for emergency vehicles to act within about 15 minutes and resolve the accident to quickly improve mobility on the highways.
Similarly, the island Corporation and Ashotel, the hotel and extrahotel employer’s association of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, recently presented the agreement to improve the mobility of people working in the tourism sector, facilitating the reorganization of shifts outside of peak hours and the collective transportation of workers. The first trial affects about 2,000 people in Costa Adeje.
In addition to this, other measures have been taken with transport and freight companies to remove heavy traffic from the TF-5 during peak hours and the University of La Laguna(ULL) with the implementation of two shuttle buses that have been successful. In this regard, the Tenerife Island Council is currently working with the ULL to promote carpooling, strengthen public transportation, and analyze staggered class and work entry times.
