The deconstruction of San Andres

A space for leisure and commerce, without cars, also without parking. That is what the remodeling work on Dique street, in the capital town of San Andrés, will leave when it is finished, something that is scheduled for the end of August. Meanwhile, residents, merchants and visitors are stoically enduring the deconstruction process in which the street is immersed, the main one in a town that sees summer approaching, and with it a significant increase in traffic and avid foreigners. to enjoy good gastronomy and the proximity of the sea.

Although the original idea was that the three phases in which the remodeling project has been divided do not overlap in the seven months of duration foreseen, and thus reduce the inconvenience to neighbors and merchants, the truth is that some complications related to telecommunications have caused that one and three, which began this week, have made the first days of this last stage very difficult.

The acting Councilor for Infrastructures, Dámaso Arteaga, visited the work on Thursday to check the state it is in and how the work is progressing. “We still have a difficulty in part one, with an installation that must be moved and the completion of that phase is delaying us a bit. It is a telephone installation, and we are coordinating with the company to do it as soon as possible,” Arteaga explained to DIARIO DE AVISOS.

The mayor explained that phase 3 is now beginning and that it is expected to “finish it on time.” “The retaining walls are already being concreted in the upper part, so we can say that the work is advancing, although with some vicissitudes,” he pointed out.

With respect to the detours that have been implemented this week, “they have already been raised and warned, and you can go around the Castle to go back to the avenue, although more detours are also enabled inside the town.”

And it is precisely that these traffic diversions caused chaos this week, mainly due to the ignorance of many of the drivers, also having a clear condition for businesses, which have seen how some customers gave up due to the impossibility of reaching .

The El Pescador Neighborhood Association emphasized this matter, pointing to the lack of signaling for detours. “We value the development of the work, based on the fact that the work has not stopped, although it is late. But it is also true that there has been poor signaling for drivers, who have seen and wanted to find the exits and circulate through the town with adequate signalling.

Like two days ago, when work began on the third section, people were confused because they did not know where to go,” they said. For what can happen in the summer months, given that the work is not expected to end before the end of August, El Pescador has requested that, for the month of July, “the lane that at the time was disabled to use it as car parks”. The association recalls that “in July and August the entrance to the town must have two lanes, because if it is already a circulatory chaos in the summer months, we do not want to think about what will happen with a single access lane.”

The initial idea was to keep the car parks in this lane of the avenue until the new car park was opened on the site of the so-called tome, with more than 300 spaces, a work that has not even started.

“You have to think that, apart from the bathers, there are the neighbors who work and who must come home for lunch to return to their jobs in the afternoon. They are the big ones always affected by the queues and at this point the problem would be huge ”, they insist from the neighborhood association.

“We have always agreed with the pedestrianization of the avenue. We believe that it is an advance for the town and that, of course, it must be complemented with the provision of more parking space. The tome has never been a real option for us and from the beginning we have opted for the Infobox car park: paved, signposted and illuminated”, concludes El Pescador.

From the City Council, Arteaga maintains that, although there are some inconveniences in Dique street, the truth is that they are “permanently talking with the merchants and with the neighbors, monitoring the work and addressing in the best possible way the unforeseen events that arise ”. For this, as he explained, they also maintain continuous contact with supply companies, such as Emmasa, for the conditions that the scuppers are having. The acting councilor concluded by assuring: “We want to finish on schedule, despite the fact that, as I said, we have some difficulty derived from some facilities.”

More than 900,000 euros of investment

The remodeling of Calle Dique involves an investment of more than 900,000 euros and contemplates adapting its current use, intended mainly for traffic and parking, to that of a free public space classified as a Plaza.

The objective is for pedestrian and leisure use to be the priority, leaving a lane for restricted traffic of neighboring vehicles and loading and unloading, and on the other hand, it is planned to provide the parking line of Avenida Marítima with a sidewalk , since there is currently no pedestrian itinerary between these car parks and the surrounding roads.

In addition, this entrance street to the town will be provided with adequate lighting that is attractive to visitors and tourists; In the same way, with the action planned in the surroundings of the Castle, the front of San Andrés will be modernized and embellished.

The Department of Works specifies that the action contemplates the adaptation of the road and sidewalk and pedestrian fords, adjusting to the accessibility regulations for people with reduced mobility, while the bus stop on Avenida Marítima will be conditioned and the adaptation will take place. surrounding landscape.

Likewise, the design of a new drainage system, conditioning of efficient public lighting and the use of urban furniture and some gardening will be carried out.

Parking in the Mamotreto

One of the initial bets to reduce the impact of the elimination of the car parks on Dique street was to enable the lot of the tome, at the head of the Las Teresitas beach, as car parks.

The idea was that this space could be ready before the summer, but the truth is that the delay in its awarding has led the work until this month of June, where it is expected that it can begin, after it has been definitively awarded. last May.

With a budget of 357,000 euros, once the reconsideration act is signed, this work will have an execution period of two months. This means that until the end of July, at the earliest, this space cannot be available. Specifically, the works that will be carried out are paving and asphalting, installation of lighting and signaling systems, as well as providing the space with a solar installation.

The site of the tome will make available to residents and users 259 places for light vehicles, 29 for motorcycles, seven for vehicles for people with reduced mobility, four six-seater modules for bicycles, as well as another one for the Local Police or Emergencies. Lighting will also be provided with 35 points of light. As the City Council has pointed out, initially it is not planned to charge for the use of this parking lot.

More works are waiting to begin in the surroundings of the fishing district

Along with the remodeling of Calle Dique, there are other projects that are going to be developed in this area of San Andrés and that are already underway, in different phases. Thus, the beginning of the work on the second bridge in the town will begin in the coming weeks, as well as the aforementioned conditioning of the parking lot of the tome, and perhaps the most important work, the rehabilitation of the surroundings of the Castillo de San Andrés to turn it into a interpretation Center. The winning idea for this space has already been delivered to the City Council, converted into a construction project, with an investment of four million, and divided into two phases. The first is the consolidation of the tower and redevelopment of its surroundings. The second is the development of the Interpretation Center and creating the pedestrian and garden area next to the Castle.