The Cabildo of Lanzarote has proceeded to the prohibition of circulation to heavy traffic in the known as Malpaso curves, the LZ-10 in the municipality of Haría, for safety reasons.
Likewise, from the island Corporation, the drafting of the technical project aimed at the comprehensive improvement of the section has been awarded with the objective of increasing road safety, correcting the existing deficiencies in the infrastructure and optimizing circulation in one of the most sensitive points of the island network.
The Councilor of Public Works, Jacobo Medina, has recently held a meeting with the mayor of Haría, Alfredo Villalba; the president of ASTRATUR, Esther Cabrera; and the president of the Lanztransport cooperative to address the problem that exists on the road.
The contract has been awarded to the company PROYECTOS Y SERVICIOS CANARIOS DE INGENIERÍA Y CONSULTORÍA, S.L., for an amount of 49,827.56 euros (IGIC included), with an estimated value of 46,567.81 euros, and an execution period of four months, a period in which the necessary technical solutions will be defined for the improvement of the layout and the stabilization of the surroundings.
The Minister of Public Works of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Jacobo Medina, has highlighted that “the awarding of this project marks a before and after in the management of a strategic road for the island. We are providing a serious, planned, and definitive response to a problem that has been affecting safety and mobility in the north for years.”
Likewise, he/she/it stressed that “we are not facing a specific action, but rather an integral intervention that will allow improving the layout, stabilizing the slopes and reinforcing safety throughout the Malpaso section”. In this sense, he/she/it added that “the decisions adopted, including the restriction to heavy traffic, respond exclusively to technical criteria. The reports are clear: there is a real risk due to landslides and due to the deterioration of the roadway, and our obligation is to act responsibly”.
The counselor also wanted to highlight the joint work carried out, pointing out that “this advance has been possible thanks to dialogue with the Haría City Council, the transport sector, and tour operators. We will continue working in a coordinated manner to guarantee viable alternatives and adequate planning during the development of the project.”
The mayor of Haría, Alfredo Villalba, highlights this example as a demonstration of the importance of institutional collaboration to respond to an action demanded by the residents of the municipality. “I want to thank the involvement of the Department of Public Works for maintaining constant communication with the City Council and taking into account the needs of the area, businesses, and residents,” he points out.
Likewise, Villalba has already conveyed to the Cabildo of Lanzarote that it is fundamental that the works be executed with the greatest possible speed, always guaranteeing the safety of the citizenry and looking after the economic activity of the area.
The president of ASTRATUR, Esther Cabrera, has valued this step as “an important advance that demonstrates that dialogue between administrations and the sector yields results”, emphasizing that “it was essential to act in this section with real and planned solutions”.
For his part, the president of the Lanztransport cooperative, Artemio Callero, has pointed out that “we transporters have been warning for years about the danger of these curves, which is why this decision represents a turning point in terms of safety and organization of heavy traffic.”
This action is framed within the agreement reached between the Haría City Council, the heavy goods transport collective, tour operators, and sector associations, as a result of several working meetings in which a consensual solution has been prioritized in the face of a historical problem.
In parallel to this award, and attending to strictly technical criteria, from this Thursday the prohibition of circulation for heavy vehicles of more than 5.5 tons and great length comes into effect in the section between Tahíche and Haría, a measure adopted to minimize risks due to the instability of the slopes, the registered landslides and the fissures detected in the roadway.
From the Cabildo, it is insisted that this action is key to guarantee connectivity with the north of Lanzarote, improve traffic conditions and reinforce road safety in an especially complex section, advancing towards a safer, modern and adapted road network to the current needs of the island.