The Public Works Ministry is putting out to tender the drawing up of six projects for the sections of road in question, with a budget of 130 million euros

The current access points will be substituted for service roads with entry and exit lanes

The main A-7, formerly known as the N-340, is used by large numbers of motorists who do not wish to pay the toll charges of the new motorway, or simply find it more convenient to use the old road. But this has always been a dangerous road, and the Ministry for Public Works has decided to eliminate direct exit and entry points on it. A pilot programme on a six-kilometre section of the road between the El Panorama and El Rosario residential developments in Marbella was initiated, and now it has been decided to extend the work to all sections of the road between Manilva and Fuengirola. This includes, of course, the municipality of Marbella, which is the most populated between the two. The six million euros invested in the pilot programme now becomes a total investment of 130 million euros.

This project, known as the N-340 Plan, means a complete re-structuring of main entry and exit points on the A-7, aimed at increasing safety at these points. The new access points will have service roads with separate exit and entry lanes.

Budget

There are many areas of high-density population between the two municipalities, with corresponding entry and exit roads along the way, and they have been a serious danger to users of this stretch of road over many years. According to information provided to this newspaper by the Ministry for Public Works, the drawing up of the projects for the six sections of road into which the A-7 has been divided has been put out to tender. The total budget for the work, according to central government calculations, will be in excess of 130 million euros. “The project has been given the final push and is going ahead,” said Miguel ángel Heredia, PSOE deputy and number two on the Malaga electoral list for Congress.

The section of roadway destined for the biggest change will be the pilot project section; a six-kilometre stretch initiated by Malaga woman Magdalena álvarez, Minister for Public Works, located at the eastern approach to Marbella town, between kilometres 183 and 189. This is between the El Rosario and Panorama residential developments, and here a total of 12 direct access points will be eliminated - seven on the right and five on the left- to be replaced with parallel service roads with structured exit and entry points.

Expropriations

The total cost of re-structuring this section of the road amounts to six million euros, which includes expropriation costs. The amount of land expropriated covers 16,615 square metres, and is all urban land valued at 715,169 euros. When the Road Authorities give their provisional approval to the project, the work has to be put out to tender, hopefully putting an end to the many accidents that happens on these entries and exit points along this Costa del Sol highway.

Apart from the actual re-structuring of the exits and entries, the bus stops will be transferred to the service roads. At present, the slowing down and stopping of the many busses on the road, and their slow speed, causes problems for ordinary motorists. In the pilot project, the six kilometres to the east of Marbella town, six of these bus stops will be re-positioned on the new service roads. In time, the same process will be carried out all along the A-7, from Manilva to Fuengirola.

Overhead pedestrian crossings have deteriorated badly in recent years, the result of corrosion and proximity to the sea, and these will also be substituted for new ones, stronger and more resistant to rust than the old ones. Five of them will be positioned on the first stretch of the road.

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