Anta Ingeniería Civil has been given the job of writing the plan for the cycle and pedestrian bridge over the AP-7 freeway by the Orihuela City Council. The San Miguel road will connect this bridge to Calle Creus and the Lomas de Cabo Roig district.
This bridge is highly busy because it’s the only way to get from the La Cuerda or Lomas de Golf residential area to the beaches, the health centre, the pharmacy, and the grocery stores. There is only one lane of traffic in each direction and no pavements, so pedestrians have to walk along the shoulder, which is just 40 centimetres wide, which puts their safety in danger.
Therefore, the pedestrian and cycling bridge is a long-standing demand of the residents. The PP-Vox coalition government put the design out to bid in April, after more than 20 years of no progress. Seven months later, it was awarded for a total of 72,600 euros and a deadline of two months from the signing of the commencement certificate. This deadline is 13,800 euros less than the original budget and two months less than expected.
The successful bidder will also add to the technical team by hiring a civil engineer and a university technician in Environmental Sciences. This is to make sure that the plan is sound from both a structural and environmental perspective.
The project will consider both pedestrians and cyclists, with a clear passage width of at least 1.8 metres and a two-way bike lane that is at least 2.5 metres wide.
Also, the LED lights will be made for use by pedestrians and cyclists on the road, and the footbridge will fit in with the city setting where it is placed. The lighting research will make sure that the area is well-lit.
Matías Ruiz, the Councillor for Urban Planning, said that the project will help define the design and future construction of a key piece of infrastructure for sustainable mobility on the Orihuela coast. This will make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the AP-7 motorway and improve connectivity between residential areas. “With this award, we are taking an important step towards a safe and sustainable connection between residential areas and the main road network, promoting pedestrian and cyclist mobility in Orihuela Costa.”
The mayor of Orihuela, Pepe Vegara, ran for office on this project, which is the Coast’s flagship project. It was even the first investment mentioned when the 2024 budgets were released.
The Alicante Road Authority (Ministry of Public Works) must approve the proposal when the company presents it. They may have complaints.
Once approval is secured, the works must be placed out to tender. Because the amount is almost 1.4 million euros, it could take nine months to a year to award the contract. This means that the footbridge could start being built at the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027. The execution term will be known when the tender is made public, although it may be roughly five months to be added from when it is awarded, which would probably not be before a year, so it would be completed shortly before the 2027 elections.
The neighbourhood group Unidos por la Costa warns that with these deadlines, the project may not be finished until after the next term. This is because electoral law says that inaugurations can’t happen until after the elections have been called.
Building cities
The expansion plan for the Lomas de Cabo Roig region involved extending the CV-941 road bridge that crosses the AP-7 highway near the Dehesa de Campoamor and La Regia residential districts, which are connected to Lomas de Cabo Roig. The developer, who started working in the sector in December 2004 and put the guarantee with the old Bancaja bank, did the project as anticipated. But the pedestrian flyover was never completed. The City Council hasn’t given up the guarantee yet, and the case is still going through the courts.
The Ministry of Public Works sent the State Highways Department a positive and binding feasibility report in November 2018. This report gave the go-ahead for the building of a new bridge next to the old one to the south. Each bridge would carry traffic in one direction, and both would have pavements for pedestrians. There was a giant protest that year to demand the infrastructure project.
Author: Derek Appleton
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