The section of the Island Ring between Icod de los Vinos and San Juan de la Rambla will change and streamline the way citizens of these municipalities and other neighboring towns such as La Guancha get around. The favorable approval of the Environmental Impact Statement (DIA) for updating the layout and construction project of this phase -the penultimate of the project-, approved on Tuesday by the Environmental Assessment Commission, was an essential step to be able to tender some long-awaited and strategic works for the entire region.
In this sense, the president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Pedro Martín, ventured to say on Tuesday that he hopes that the work can begin “before the end of the year.” The mayors of the affected municipalities, Icod de los Vinos, La Guancha, San Juan de la Rambla and Los Realejos -in a more indirect way-, assess the progress that the project represents as “great news”, but they expect concrete answers to your demands.
The councilor from Icodense, Francis González, questions the deadlines given: “When they say that the works are going to start and dates are set, either the file is not known or the truth is being misrepresented. There has been a process of public exposure in which a lot of allegations have been made by residents and the City Council that have not been answered and must be resolved.
González qualifies that the DIA “is a part of the file”, but the allegations remain to be answered and “to confirm that they are technically viable or if what is being proposed by the Ministry makes sense. That communication, that meeting, has not taken place and we have asked for it, because it is important, ”he reiterates. On the other hand, the Icodense president warns of security problems “before the funnel of vehicles that can be generated on the route between Los Realejos and San Juan de la Rambla, and, specifically, in the area of La Rambla.
His Ramblero counterpart, Ezequiel Domínguez, who has been critical of this project from the beginning, agrees with this latest notice, since he understands that there must be other alternatives to the current proposal for the Ring as it passes through the town and the City Council has not yet received.
Remember that in 2022 the Plenary of the Corporation unanimously agreed on two occasions to agree to the closure of the Ring due to serious mobility problems, but rejected the proposed route, because, among other issues, it seriously conditions the development from the coast of the municipality, especially in the area of Los Alenes.
For this reason, in the process of allegations, he requested that the necessary time be stopped so that alternatives to the current proposal could be studied and proposed, and that the section that joins the municipality with that of Los Realejos be buried underground so that it does not affect the coast. “But no response has been given to the request that alternatives be studied,” he confirms.
expedite procedures
For his part, the mayor of La Guancha, Antonio Hernández, values ”very positively” that the DIA has been favorable and hopes that all the procedures for the bidding for the works will be expedited and that these begin as soon as possible. “For the town and for the region, this is great news and it could be the beginning of economic, social, industrial development and improvement for our neighbors,” he underlines.
The mayor of Los Realejos, Adolfo González, appreciates that this section is promoted, although he believes that “it must be done with the entire Ring”. However, he is aware that the San Vicente-San Juan de la Rambla route, the last one left for closure and that affects his municipality, is the one that has had the most difficulties due to the environmental impact it can have on the natural area. protected from Los Campeches-Tigaiga and Ruiz, although “he knows” that the Government of the Canary Islands is working on a possible route.
