The City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has authorised a tender worth more than 330,000 euros for a service that includes a parking occupancy monitoring system at Las Teresitas beach, along with dynamic information displays for drivers. Despite the existence of a traffic light system at the beach and Las Gaviotas, indicating parking occupancy, significant traffic jams still occur, especially on weekends, at the entrances to San Andrés and Las Teresitas.
The City Council announced the approval of this tender during a council meeting on Monday for the acquisition of supplies and services aimed at promoting sustainable mobility in the coastal tourist area, with a total budget of 331,699 euros.
This project, comprising the provision of “dynamic” signage technology, is part of the special call for tourism sustainability plans in destinations through the Next Generation EU-funded Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan.
The objective of this tender, as stated by the council, is to provide real-time automated information on parking occupancy in the designated area and relay this information to citizens and visitors through signage and online services.
Issues with access to the popular Las Teresitas beach worsened when the City Council reduced capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic by eliminating a second traffic lane within the beach and numerous parking spaces. This led to congestion as all vehicles had to use a single lane, further exacerbated by drivers waiting for parking spots, causing traffic standstills on the beach.
Despite the extensive queues, particularly on weekends and holidays, the City Council has yet to reopen the lane or restore the lost parking spaces. Instead, a new car park was constructed at the beach’s entrance, adding to congestion when users exit in the afternoon, rejoining the single access road. This new parking area is inconvenient for those wishing to access the middle or far ends of the beach.
The City Council aims to enhance mobility through technological tools, alleviate traffic congestion in search of parking, reduce captive traffic, minimise travel times for citizens and visitors, among other benefits.
It also aims to enhance access services to Las Teresitas beach and its surroundings, improve urban environment quality indicators, enhance the quality of life for affected citizens, and promote the municipality as a smart tourism destination.
The contract will be divided into three parts: the first for studying and designing a sustainable mobility system in the coastal tourist area, the second for promoting sustainable mobility, and the third for implementing a parking occupancy monitoring system at Las Teresitas beach and installing dynamic information displays for drivers.
