PLANS for Palma's second ring road, which is more of a circular link up of already-existing roads than a completely new project, have ground to a halt because they are not included in the regional road-building plan. Technically speaking therefore, the project remains illegal.
The ring road, which is crucial to alleviating congestion in the city centre, has ironically been approved by all parties on the Council of Majorca and money exists to finance its completion. But the fact that it is not included in Majorca's yet-to-be-approved Road Plan means that no headway can be made at all.
Gonzalo Aguiar, Roads Director on the Council of Majorca, explained yesterday that what his department was able to do was build along the route which had already been planned under the former second ring road project but the connecting road remained outside his jurisdiction. If the modification to the new ring road project isn't included in the island's Road Plan and approved, then we're just going to be left with the stretch of dual carriageway, he said. Plans were to begin building in four stages during the term of office of the present Balearic government: Establiments to the Son Castello industrial estate; from Son Castello to the Inca motorway from the Inca motorway to the old Sineu road; and from there to the airport. Currently only the first phase will be carried out under preliminary plans. The connecting road doesn't just embrace the road itself but also all the accesses which will make traffic flow more easily, said Aguiar. The project had secured funding through an agreement signed with Central