SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, March 30. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The construction of the new highway of about 5.5 kilometers in length between Puerto Naos and Tazacorte, which has been declared an emergency and will allow the road connection to be restored on the western slope of the island of La Palma, affected by the volcanic eruption, will begin next April 18 and the forecast is that it will last about five months.
This was announced by the president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, after holding a working meeting with the president of the Cabildo de La Palma, Mariano Zapata; the Vice President and Minister of Infrastructure, Borja Perdomo, and the Government delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, to analyze the project for the future road, which will cross the volcanic flows expelled by the volcano.
Ángel Víctor Torres recalled that this emergency work was approved a week ago by the Council of Ministers and will have an estimated investment of around 38 million euros, which includes approximately 9.3 million euros planned for expropriations.
Torres highlighted that this new road, of which 2.5 kilometers will go over lava flows, will allow the infrastructures that have been affected by the volcanic eruption to be recovered and reconnect the population centers of this area of the island of La Palm.
Likewise, the president again thanked the coordination between the different public administrations to speed up the recovery of La Palma after the volcano as much as possible, for which this road is essential, he added.
Along the same lines, he recalled that, when the eruption was still underway, the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, visited the island and was asked about the need for this work on the coast to once again unite Tazacorte with Puerto Naos. “We said then that they could not be included in the road agreement as ordinary works, but that emergency mechanisms should be used once the eruption was over. Eight days ago, the Council of Ministers approved this urgent action with almost 40 million euros and with the most technically feasible and agreed route between all the administrations to unite the two sites in the shortest time possible, for which a company has been designated directly”.
The president also explained that a large part of the works will be carried out in the areas of the lava flows with less thickness, as well as on land not affected by the lava. “This makes it important to develop the works in a structured way to overcome the different difficulties due to the new orography.” In this aspect, he thanked the “strenuous work of all the technicians, carried out on the ground itself”.
Torres hopes to meet the approximate deadline of five months and recalls that in just 27 days, when the eruption was still underway, urgent work was undertaken to facilitate access from Las Manchas to Puerto Naos by a secondary road: “All the will to finish as soon as possible, although we must also be realistic because we must check how the temperature is in the laundry areas and face possible difficulties.It is a very important way to begin to return to normality; in any case, there is a powerful company, a Government of Spain that has opted for the emergency and a Cabildo, the Government of the Canary Islands and three municipalities that we are agreeing on”.
For his part, the president of the Cabildo stressed that this road is the best option, the fastest, the most technically feasible and the one that has attracted the consensus of all administrations. He hoped that this new road would become a reality as soon as possible and thus be able to connect the coastal area with Tazacorte and return normality to many of those who have been affected by the volcano’s eruption.
The Government delegate, Anselmo Pestana, also stressed that it is an essential work for the economic and social recovery of the Aridane Valley, which — he said — is the objective that the Government of Spain has set for itself, supporting the proposal that have been carried out by the three municipalities of the Valley, the Cabildo of La Palma and the Government of the Canary Islands.
This new road will cross the volcanic flows expelled by the volcano and specifically, the provisional restitution of the LP-213 road is being carried out.
Additionally, it is planned to condition a section of road not affected by the volcano between Tazacorte and Los Llanos de Aridane to connect the nodes of the current road network that allow absorbing and distributing the traffic that now moves to the western fringe of the affected area. , and thus the functionality of the emergency work is complete.
This action has been agreed within the framework of the working group established by the General Directorate of Highways of the Ministry, the General Directorate of Road Infrastructures of the Government of the Canary Islands, the Cabildo, the affected town councils and the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands itself.
Since the volcanic eruption of Cumbre Vieja, highways LP-2, LP-212, LP-213, LP-211, LP-2132 and LP215 have been partially buried by the lava flow, which has an estimated average thickness of 12 meters and thicknesses maximum up to 70 meters.
Therefore, North-South communication in this area of the island has been completely interrupted by its western slope, isolating population centers and farms from the municipalities of Los Llanos de Aridane, Tazacorte and El Paso.
The objective of the emergency work is to restore, as far as possible, the connection between the LP-2 highway in the center of Los Llanos de Aridane with the southeast area of La Colada, thus reestablishing the main mobility itinerary affected.
In accordance with the information available and the conditions of the flow, it has been decided, in coordination with the regional and local administrations, to execute the new infrastructure in the area closest to the coastal strip, to the west of the mountains of La Laguna and Todoque, where the casting thicknesses are smaller and the surface condition is less.
MORE THAN 8 KILOMETERS
The action will have a total of about 8.5 kilometers in length, of which 5.5 kilometers correspond to a new route.
The first section of the new road consists of about 4.5 kilometers with the beginning located on the LP-213 road, before the descent to Puerto Naos and at the intersection with the Hoyo del Verdugo road (which has been prepared in an emergency by the Ministry of Public Works of the Government of the Canary Islands in January 2022, until its connection with the LP-2).
The section ends at the intersection of the current LP-2132 coastal road with the LP-215, to the northwest of the La Laguna mountain and about 1,000 meters from Tazacorte. This section saves the area directly occupied by the lava flow.
The planned action includes the construction of a two-way road, with two three-meter lanes, a 1.5-meter shoulder on both sides and a three-meter berm on each side reserved as a service corridor.
The second section, one kilometer long, runs from the intersection of the current LP-2132 coastal road with the LP-215 to the entrance roundabout to Tazacorte.
The current coastal road and the agricultural roads in this area do not have the capacity to absorb the traffic of the new road, so it is necessary to build a connection with the entrance roundabout to Tazacorte.
The third section, three kilometers long, involves refurbishing the current LP-2 highway, from the entrance roundabout to Tazacorte to the intersection between the LP-1, the LP-2 and the Los Llanos de Aridane ring road (LP- twenty-one).
In this way, the Northwest-Southeast mobility of the LP-2 main road is completely restored.
