The Ministry of Public Works and Transport of the Government of the Canary Islands has announced that it plans to tender at the beginning of 2009 for the drafting of the expansion project of the Port of Playa Blanca, as well as the environmental impact study, after the project alternative to be processed was agreed with the Lanzarote administrations last July.
The Minister of Public Works and Transport, Juan Ramón Hernández, has stated that the Ministry has carried out preliminary studies of fourteen port expansion alternatives, whose objective is to select the one that presents the greatest advantages from a functional, constructive, environmental and economic point of view. These studies have considered several design options for the expansion and improvement of the port, pending the corresponding environmental analysis.
Hernández also announced that the estimated budget for the alternatives under consideration is around 35 and 40 million euros. According to the forecasts of the Government of the Canary Islands, the project will be drafted on a basic basis by September 2009, in order to carry out its processing with the Environment and Coasts in a period of between 15 and 18 months.With all this procedure, the execution of works may be tendered at the end of 2010 or in the spring of 2011.
New outer dock
As Juan Ramón Hernández explained, the action to be carried out aims to solve the problems of coexistence of ships engaged in commercial traffic with fishing and sports boats, designing an outer dock for two or three commercial berths.
It should be remembered that, within the network of ports of general interest in the Canary Islands, the port of Playa Blanca plays a fundamental role in the maritime transport of passengers and freight traffic, currently reaching 925,000 passengers per year on regular-tourist lines and a total of 182,000 tourist vehicles.
