As a sample, a bike lane

The works have caused significant damage to the merchants in the area and have left workers and residents without parking, but on top of that, they don't even convince cyclists. That is the sad reality of the new ...

March 9 2012 (14:51 WET)

The works have caused significant damage to the merchants in the area and have left workers and residents without parking, but on top of that, they don't even convince cyclists. That is the sad reality of the new ...

The works have caused significant damage to the merchants in the area and have left workers and residents without parking, but on top of that, they don't even convince cyclists. That is the sad reality of the new bike lane in El Reducto, which has become another example of the lack of clarity with which public works are approached on this island.

In this case, the Cabildo awarded the project when it had not even informed that it intended to carry it out. And that not only implies the construction of a bike lane, but also a transformation of a key point of the capital's maritime avenue, where sidewalks have been widened, parking spaces have been eliminated and it is intended to change traffic and the direction of traffic in some sections.

On October 6, 2011, when La Voz had already managed to reveal this project, the Cabildo convened the media for the first time and spoke about this work. But he did it in an act actually organized to sign the relocation certificate. That is, to give the green light to the awarding company to start the works, for an amount of 212,000 euros.

Five months later, the work has already taken shape (although the works continue in the last section), and the result is certainly surprising. And not precisely for good. Users of that bike lane and cycling clubs on the island criticize the lack of signage but, above all, no one explains an essential detail: who came up with the brilliant idea of putting cobblestones on a bike lane?

Of course, anyone who uses a bicycle, or especially skates, for which this type of road is also designed, is aware of how absurd this decision is. Obviously, for them, this is better than nothing, but having undertaken a work that has harmed all the other people who live or work in that area, and that has also meant an expense of more than 200,000 euros, couldn't it have been done at least well? Was it so difficult to have put, as in most of the bike lanes in the world, a smooth pavement that would facilitate circulation, and that would not subject users to jumping over the cobblestones?

Unfortunately, this is just an example. In fact, the vast majority of the works that are carried out on the island end up being a source of problems. From deadlines that are not met, to defects in construction or poorly planned designs.

Another nearby case, which also involved the creation of a bike lane, can be found on the avenue of the beaches of Puerto del Carmen. Beyond the debate about whether this work, which also received harsh criticism from the businessmen in the area, has been beneficial or harmful, the concrete thing is that shortly after inaugurating it, they had to rectify. And not a small detail, no. Nothing less than the direction of traffic.

After leaving a single lane and a single direction, they realized that the direction they had chosen was not correct, and decided to change it. And that meant repainting the signs on the asphalt, blurring the ones that were no longer useful and giving a touch of shoddy work to a newly released work.

To these, many more cases could be added. From the new cruise ship dock in Arrecife, which has barely started operating and is already too small; to some works in the Los Jameos auditorium that are on their way to a decade and that have not only not solved the problem of waterproofing the vault but have also created another, with a huge hole in a protected area that now has to be covered.

And that, without forgetting chapters such as the rainwater works that were carried out in Arrecife, and that were evident during the rains last winter (this year, at least, the drought has helped the residents to get rid of the usual floods), or the inexplicable case of the capital's bus station.

The works to remodel it should have been completed in September 2010, but a year and a half later, the station remains closed. In March 2011, when the works should have been half a year finished, the company resigned to complete them due to economic problems. The Cabildo then assured that it would directly assume the remaining works and that they would be completed by the end of May. That last term was eleven months ago, and the station has not yet opened its doors.

In addition, we must add the economic chapter. And the fact is that the work was initially awarded to the company B. Navarro Construcciones S.L for 546,000 euros, but later the Cabildo approved two amendments, which meant paying it almost 900,000. Of this, there are also infinite examples in the works that are carried out in Lanzarote. Miraculously, after holding a contest and awarding a work, the budgets multiply.

The last case is being experienced now, and the victims are going to be the students who were waiting to join the Costa Teguise institute in the next course. The work, which should be in the final stretch, is currently stopped. According to the Ministry, the awarding company is trying to expand the budget with an amendment to the project. Unfortunately, the never-ending story.

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