The City Council regrets that the central government does not plan to act urgently to put an end to the danger of potholes and potholes on the A-7 highway.

The Ministry headed by Óscar Puente replies to the mayor that the structural rehabilitation of the road surface is still pending project, planning and budget availability.

The Estepona City Council regrets that the central government does not plan to act urgently to put an end to the danger posed by the many potholes and potholes in the road surface of the A-7 highway, a key infrastructure for mobility throughout the Costa del Sol, and that put at risk the safety of thousands of drivers who travel daily through this point. The General Directorate of Roads of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility recognizes that today the action that would “comprehensively address the existing pathologies and significantly improve the conditions of rolling and road safety” is not only pending project drafting, but also a planning of work and budget.

This has been made clear from the Ministry headed by Óscar Puente in response to the letter sent last January by the mayor of Estepona, José María García Urbano, in which he requested that the necessary repair, maintenance and improvement works be carried out “as soon as possible” on the asphalt in the affected section that runs through the municipality, in order to ensure adequate safety and traffic conditions.

The Government affirms that it is aware of “the incidents that the road surface presents in certain stretches of this road”, as well as “the inconvenience that this situation may cause to users”. However, it recognizes that the project for the “integral rehabilitation of the road surface on the A-7 highway, as it passes through Estepona, Casares and Manilva” is still “in the drafting phase”. In the letter sent to the Estepona Town Council, the central government estimates the drafting of the project at 8.7 million euros, although its execution is pending both planning and budget.

The General Directorate of Roads states in its response the existence of “existing pathologies in the road surface”, and the need to undertake a comprehensive intervention to “significantly improve the conditions of rolling and safety of the road”. However, it states that the execution of the necessary works will continue to be processed “once the drafting of the project has been completed and in accordance with the planning of actions and budgetary availabilities”. Until then, according to the central government, only “ordinary conservation and maintenance work” can be carried out.

The mayor, José María García Urbano, considers this “ordinary maintenance” insufficient, given the state in which this section of the A-7 is found, in which the technicians of the City Council have come to count more than 300 points that require intervention. “The poor maintenance of this road raises the risk of accidents because drivers make sudden maneuvers and braking to avoid these potholes and potholes that occur in the lanes of both directions,” explains García Urbano, who believes that the situation “requires a comprehensive plan and not patches that in a short time again leave potholes and potholes exposed.”

This stretch of highway registers average traffic intensities that can exceed 65,000 vehicles per day and 100,000 during the main tourist seasons. The poor condition of the road surface has worsened due to the rains, which requires structural rehabilitation of the entire road to ensure the safety of users.