IF ever there was a genuine case of third time lucky this is it. The latest modifications to the San Pedro tunnel project appear to have finally made everyone happy. The new scheme has the support of the residents’ groups and political parties, as the modifications have been made bearing in mind the objections and suggestions that the interim committee, then in charge of the Town Hall, passed on to the Ministry of Development.
With an increase in the final budget of 9.3 million euros and substantial changes to some parts of the project, which affects six kilometres of road, these changes will allow the machines to move in once the final go ahead has been given. The tunnel itself will stretch for one kilometre and will mean that drivers no longer have to stop at traffic lights at the junction with the Avenida Marqués del Duero or negotiate the El Ingenio roundabout, obstacles that cause daily tailbacks on the main A-7 dual carriageway.
Visual impact
There has also been satisfaction expressed at the final solution provided for the third junction which in the end will not be avoided with a flyover, a previous option that received heavy criticism from local residents. In order to meet the demands of both the Town Hall and the residents’ associations, who had criticised the visual impact of the proposed “scalextric”, this has been replaced by an underpass for traffic travelling north to south, in other words people wanting to go to Las Petunias or to join the Ronda road. The A-7 will continue at the same level and the roundabout, initially planned to go under the flyover, will now be constructed further south.
But that is not the only change made as a result of pressure from residents and politicians. The new design involves an access road to the Guadalmina Sur development; the widening of the El Ingenio roundabout to cope with 20,000 vehicles a day; moving the roundabout planned for the bus station some 150 metres east to improve traffic flow; and the creation of a third lane from the Nueva Andalucía junction as far as Cristamar, as well as other minor changes.
These final modifications will hopefully signal the start of work on a project that has taken more than a decade to get off the ground. This stretch of road has become one of the main black spots on the Malaga roads network with never-ending traffic jams. The original 49.8 million euro budget has swollen to almost 60 million although it appears that the changes will not affect the time schedule. The (now acting) Minister of Development, Magdalena álvarez, previously promised that the work would be complete by the end of 2009.
