Less than twenty-four hours had passed since the ‘summit’ convened by the Mobility councillor of the Tenerife Island Council, Eulalia García, with the residents of Anaga at Cruz del Carmen to present the action plan to tackle the traffic chaos in the Rural Park in the short, medium, and long term, and the island’s responsible authorities, along with their counterparts in the Natural Environment department, Blanca Pérez, met with all law enforcement agencies to coordinate an immediate action plan to address the traffic congestion.
In the seats of the island councilors, political representatives from Santa Cruz, Gladis de León –councilor of Anaga– and, for La Laguna, Domingo Galván, from Mobility and Environment, and Cristina Ledesma, from the Police, as well as technicians from theCouncil and a broad representation of theCivil Guard and the local police forces of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and La Laguna, as well as the Regional Police and even the National Police, involved in citizen security.
Both Eulalia García and Blanca García reported on the meeting with the residents to convey the need to immediately implement a shock plan to eradicate the traffic chaos in the area. The Environment councillor introduced the island director of the Natural Environment, Pedro Millán, as the coordinator of the dissuasive operation that requires the participation of all security forces.
The aim is to ensure the presence of police officers in the Anaga Rural Park, so the heads of the different security forces committed to developing a single schedule to act in a coordinated manner.
Presence and Penalties
[–>
The councilor for Anaga from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Gladis de León, explained that the immediate challenge is to ensure the presence of agents in the area. Two premises define the operation that Pedro Millán will lead: being present and fining offenders who park their vehicles in violation of road safety regulations, as has been happening over the past two years, according to the residents. Since the island road and that route are the responsibility of the Civil Guard, the problem of the lack of tow trucks arises, which the local police forces have, although they can only intervene to lift vehicles at the request of municipal officers and in their area of influence.
Along with the shortage of tow trucks to remove the offenders who leave their vehicles –mostly rentals– on the roadway –whether in the surroundings of Cruz del Carmen or in many viewpoints such as Amogoje, in Taganana, which residents are calling to be removed–, another issue arises due to the width of the road itself, making it difficult for both the tow truck’s access and the transit with a sanctioned car. To address the immediate response that residents propose, the two premises of the Police will be presence and fines, a dissuasive measure that is expected to have immediate results.
The Mobility councilor of La Laguna, Domingo Galván, explained that his government team is progressing in the search for a zone, perhaps in Las Canteras, where to establish a platform for dissuasive parking to alleviate the burden on the Anaga fleet. Also, his council colleague, Cristina Ledesma, responsible for the Police, presented her completed task regarding the willingness and deployment of operations carried out particularly in the Cruz del Carmen area to inform residents and visitors of the parking restrictions in the area, renewing their commitment to eradicating traffic jams in the La Laguna area.
The Mobility councillor, Eulalia García, stated in a press release, “The collaboration of all agents and institutions is complete, so I hope that results can be seen in the coming weeks”. The Anaga councilor for Santa Cruz, Gladis de León, even ventured to state that it will be a reality before the start of summer.
[–>
