3rd lane opened on Malaga’s Eastern ring road

A THIRD lane was opened on Malaga’s Eastern ring road this week which should reduce traffic on this road used daily by 70,000 drivers.

The work, carried out by Grupo Vera, began three years ago and has seen many changes and delays, mainly due to the Ministry of Public Works reducing the budget.

Even now, it is not finished, as the Cerrado de Calderon tunnel will still be narrower than the rest of the road, which will have three lanes, each 3.5 metres wide. For now, the space at the sides of the tunnel for pedestrians has been reduced to make more space for vehicles, but to increase safety, the speed limit has been reduced to 60kph in the tunnel.

One of the most complicated stages of the project has been widening the three viaducts over the Toquero, Mayorazgo and Jaboneros streams. More than €12m has been invested in the tunnel, and another €2m are due to be invested to complete the widening of the tunnel which should be completed by the beginning of next year after being carried out mainly at night.

The third lane will mainly benefit drivers who use the road to travel to Rincon de la Victoria, El Palo and the Axarquia area every day.

By Jennifer Leighfield