29th of December 2006

iPropertyCLUB News

Minister signs contract for new Malaga access road, to open at the end of 2009

Magdalena álvarez signed the c ontract for the management of the new Las Pedrizas highway in which the Sacyr construction company will invest 367 million euros

Following more than five years of talks, the concession contract for the final section of the highway between El Alto de Las Pedrizas and Malaga (the AP-46) was signed last week by the Ministry of Public Works and the group of companies that will build and manage this new access road. The contract was actually signed by the Minister for Public Works, Magdalena álvarez and the representative for the construction companies and president of Autopistas de Guadalmina, Luis de Rivero.
The final hurdle to be overcome was back in June of this year, when the Public Works Ministry finally accepted the offer presented by the group of companies headed by Sacyr. Since then, the conditions of the contract have been examined in detail by both parties before being accepted last week.

The new highway, which will cost an estimated 367 million euros to build, will be 25 kilometres long, beginning at El Alto de Las Pedrizas, where it links with the A-92 M (the old Las Pedrizas-Salinas road and the present access road to Malaga, the final section of the A-45, known previously as the N-331. With regard to the route, it will pass through Villanueva de Cauche, the outskirts of Antequera, Casabermeja, Almogía and Malaga, ending at Puerto de la Torre, where it will join the second ring road.

Once finished at the end of 2009, the road will be managed by the companies already mentioned until 2042, although this period can be extended for another four years if a number of agreed conditions are met. These conditions, we are told by the Public Works Ministry, concern traffic management, accident control, the prevention of pile-ups, the waiting times for payment of toll charges and the state of the road itself. There are also certain conditions relating to employment conditions and equal-rights opportunities for workers.

Two lanes

The budget for the project includes 9.65 million euros for the expropriation of land needed to build the road, which will have two lanes in each direction and which will have to open before 31 December 2009, according to the contract signed.

The Public Works Ministry predicts that more than 17,000 vehicles will use the road every day. Drivers of light vehicles will pay 0.065 euros per kilometre in the low season, which is from October to May, excluding the 17 days of the Easter period. The cost for the rest of the year will be 0.099 euros per kilometre.

Ordinary motorists will pay two euros to use this section of highway. It will be free of charge for light vehicles from midnight until six in the morning. Heavy vehicles will not pay between ten at night and eight in the morning. There will also be normal discounts, 49-hour two-way charges, and reductions for older people and invalid drivers.

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