SOLLER
THE Sa Mola tunnel, which Soller residents have been demanding for a long time, has now been finished and will be opened to traffic today after more than a year of works.
The opening will not have the same significance as the one which took place 10 years ago to open the controversial Soller tunnel, but it represents a great advance for the people of Soller.
It also means a better quality of life for the residents of the Port of Soller, as there will be less traffic on the sea front.
This tunnel could also contribute to the tourist area of Soller recovering some of its splendour which has been lost during the last few years.
To give access to the Port of Soller from the local road through Sa Mola, which is just being finished, has meant the creation of a new road of 2'149 metres, of which 1'213 run through the tunnel.
After the Soller toll tunnel, which is 2'988 metres long, the Sa Mola tunnel will be the second longest on the island.
This is followed by the Son Vic tunnel in Paguera, which is 833 metres long. The Vidriers tunnel is 400 metres long and the Bendinat tunnel 178 metres.
The road running through the tunnel consists of two lanes, each 3.5 metres wide with hard shoulders one metre wide.
It also has an average of one metre of pavement on both sides, and an evacuation passage of 170 metres has been created.
The road will start in the dual carriageway which joins Soller and the Port of Soller and run to the Sa Figuera roundabout, from where the Port can be accessed.
Before that, another roundabout will distribute traffic to the centre of Soller.
As the road distributes traffic to the rear of the Port, this means that the seafront area can now be made into a pedestrian area, one of Soller council's great aspirations.
Coinciding with the opening of the tunnel, the council will also open the car parks in the Lepanto building, a promise and a priority for the coastal town.
With the opening of the Sa Mola tunnel, the Balearic Government will have inaugurated all the work included in its first agreement with the Spanish Ministry of Public Works.
This has been a somewhat contentious subject between the two administrations.
Because of this, the Balearic Government has had to finance the work.
No comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
Currently there are no comments.