Mallorca is all set to tackle the traffic problems in Palma and in the Serra de Tramuntana mountains which have to cope with increasing vehicle numbers of traffic jams during the summer. Traffic flow on Palma’s Vía de Cintura ring road has been 25% faster during the summer months compared to other years, according to technicians from the Council of Mallorca.
This was confirmed by the president of the island’s institution, Llorenç Galmés, at a press conference following a meeting with his team to mark the start of the new political year. The reinforcement works on the Vía de Cintura road surface, which had not been renovated for more than 25 years despite supporting 180,000 vehicles a day, and the addition of a fourth lane between the Estadi Balear and the Inca motorway, he stressed, have improved traffic flow.
‘The Council’s technicians have confirmed that this summer, traffic on the Vía de Cintura has been 25% smoother than in previous years,’ said Galmés. The island’s president pointed out that mobility will be one of the focal points of the second half of his term of office, during which he will continue to implement the Palma access plan.
He nighighted that 164 million euros has been invested in this initiative to carry out 13 projects, of which seven, more than half, have already been completed. These include the zero-lane access to the Can Valero industrial estate and the Jesús road from the Vía de Cintura, the new lane and motorway exit between the airport and Playa de Palma, the additional lane on the Ma-19 between the So n’Oms industrial estate junction and the airport, the reinforcement of the road surface of the Vía de Cintura between the airport and Génova, the improvement of the motorway accesses from the airport and the Manacor road to the Vía de Cintura, and the improvement of the accesses to the Vía de Cintura at the Son Hugo junction.
Among the works currently underway, Galmés pointed out the Son Verí Nou roundabout and the Llucmajor housing developments, which will allow better access to the airport motorway and are expected to be ready by the end of the year. He added that in the coming months, work will begin on the roundabout at the ITV on the Soller road to ‘decongest a black spot for traffic jams’ and at the beginning of next year, the first phases of work on Palma’s second ring road could begin, which is ‘essential to decongest the Vía de Cintura and improve access’ to the city.
The president of the Council of Mallorca has announced that the island’s five MOT stations will be open every Saturday in September, a measure that is expected to result in 4,000 additional inspections.
The waiting time for an appointment, he claimed, has gone from five months in the last legislative term to ‘one or two at most’ in the current one. At some stations, he pointed out, ‘it’s only a matter of weeks’.
Galmés also took the opportunity to remind everyone that the government team is working on the final draft of the bill which, in line with what has already been implemented in Ibiza and Formentera, will seek to limit the entry of vehicles into Mallorca. ‘We are in the process of drafting the final proposal through the legal services. We have held many meetings with all the parties, entities, companies and associations that may have a direct effect on this regulation. In August, we have not stopped and have continued to work with maximum dialogue, seeking a proposal that is as consensual as possible so that it is not a proposal for a single legislative term,’ he explained.
However, he did not reveal whether he has brought positions closer with Vox, which initially rejects the restriction of vehicle access, or with the left, which is willing but calls for more forceful measures.
‘We continue to work with all the political parties with representation,’ he said when questioned on the matter.