PALMA
THE Council of Majorca will give priority to improving the roads on Majorca next year.
This was announced by the councillor for Public Works, Antoni Pascual, during a meeting of the accident rate commission, which brings together representatives of different sectors, among them motorcyclists and associations, in addition to political representatives.
During the meeting the results of a study of the accident rate on Majorca were presented. The study was done in 2006.
The text will be the base from which the councillor's department will work and will allow definitive solutions to be found to the high number of accidents on Majorcan roads, which last year claimed the lives of 102 people.
Pascual declined to talk about specific deadlines, although he did say that there will be a new study which will create a calendar to follow and the activities which have to be done, said Pascual.
When we have the budget for 2008, we will decide how much we will dedicate to each activity.
He added that the Council of Majorca will also work hard to resolve the problems of the motorcyclists.
The study of the 2006 accident rate gave details all of the accidents where people were injured or killed.
The text also has, for the first time, an analysis of which stretches of road have a higher rate of accidents, in other words the dangerous points on the road network.
These have an accident risk factor which is higher than average for similar stretches.
This implies that an improvement could significantly reduce the accident rate on these stretches of road.
In addition to this, there is a danger index, which indicates the possibility of suffering an accident in certain stretches of the roads.
With regard to this, there are six areas with stretches of road with the highest concentration of accidents: the Cami de S'Albufera, which comes out of Sa Pobla; the triangle formed by Sa Pobla, Buger and Muro; the Cami de Marjals, which goes from Muro to Can Picafort; the road which links Inca and Santa Margalida where it passes Llubi; the road which goes from Inca to Lloseta; and a stretch of the Ma4014 which goes from Porto Cristo, finishing at the crossroads for Felanitx and Portocolom.
The Council of Majorca is carrying out improvements in the systems for vehicle containment.
With regard to this they have already withdrawn the metal safety barriers on the airport motorway and the Via de la Cintura.
In addition to this, they have started applying anti slip treatments to the roads in certain areas of Majorca.
Ramon Socias, the Spanish Government's Representative to the islands, announced that he hopes that the planned radar speed traps will be installed on the islands' roads during the next few months, and explained that the delay in the installation was due to the modifications being carried out during the last 18 months in the sites where the cameras are to be installed.
There are few roads where there were no accidents involving deaths or injuries in 2006.
However, the roads which stand out are the one running from Lluc to Pollensa, the one which starts in Palma and finishes in Andratx, passing through Calvia, and the one which goes from Arta to Betlem.
During the meeting of the accident rate commission, those present were told of the substitution of the existing crash barriers for those with greater safety for motorcyclists, which have a double bond.
The areas with the highest concentration of vehicles are mostly found on the exit routes from Palma.
It is just this high concentration of vehicles which causes many accidents.