In the last twelve years, the regional government has not built a kilometer of new autonomously owned highways. The good times were left far behind due to cuts due to the impact of the economic crisis and the collapse in income. In 2010, the Community Budget for new highway projects was almost at zero, and real investments were allocated mainly to the maintenance and improvement of the regional road network. The sections of highways that must link Lorca with Caravaca, Calasparra, Venta del Olivo and Jumilla; as well as the Mazarrón Bay high-capacity road, along with the completion of the 'terrace highway' (Zeneta-Santomera), await in the drawers of the regional Executive. The Ministry, on the contrary, maintains the investment pulse in the state network.
In the previous legislature, the technical works were relaunched and the projects were updated, redefining some layouts, but the reality is that some construction works will not begin until the end of the current period, probably in Mazarrón. In the best of cases, the entire package of pending highways will not be in execution before seven years due to the procedures to be completed: informative studies, environmental impact evaluation, construction projects and bidding and awarding, explained sources in the sector.
Added to this is the problem of financing. The regional coffers do not have money and are underfinanced, so the Community must look for formulas to carry out these works included in the Regional Transport Infrastructure Pact, which was updated in March. To do this, the López Miras Executive will have to resort to European funds, to public-private collaboration formulas, or to build these highways little by little, piece by piece, according to the availability of each year.
These are four projects totaling almost 150 kilometers with which to complete the regional road structure, as well as to consolidate a high-capacity internal route with Andalusia and the Valencian Community, parallel to the A-7 highway, with the Region of Murcia. as an intermediate link.
'Shadow toll'
The current regional network of high-capacity roads and highways totals almost 250 kilometers and was built between 1990 and 2009, mainly during the governments of Ramón Luis Valcárcel. During the mandates of the socialist presidents Carlos Collado and María Antonia Martínez, the La Manga expressway, between Los Beatos and Cabo de Palos, and part of the Lorca-Águilas highway were built, but the bulk of the current network was undertaken in the Valcárcel stage with regional financing.
The lack of money continues to relegate the interior corridor with Andalusia, the Lorca-Caravaca axis, the Bay of Mazarrón and the completion of the 'terrace'
Those were the years in which the debt of the regional coffers was very low and there was money to undertake many of these works, although in some cases extra-budgetary formulas were used, as happened with the Northwest highway, which was contracted through the ' shadow toll', which is why a fee is still being paid to the concessionaire company based on the number of vehicles that travel on this road. Next year's bill will be 15.8 million.
In another case, it was a private company that paid for the work. It happened with the 10 kilometers that connect the Totana-Mazarrón and Alhama-Campo de Cartagena highways, which were financed by the developer Polaris World, to facilitate access to several residential complexes.
Between 1995 and 2011, the largest extension of the regional highways was built, in a network designed to connect the center of the Region with the coastal areas of Águilas, Mazarrón, Cartagena, La Manga and Mar Menor. This design meant that the Cartagena-Vera highway, a state concession, did not have the occupancy planned by its promoters due to the competition exerted by the Alhama-Campo de Cartagena regional highway to reach Mazarrón and Águilas free of charge.
Most of the current regional highway network, of 250 kilometers, was built in the Valcárcel stage
The last sections of highway built by the regional government were the two accesses to the new Corvera airport from national 301, the Murcia-Cartagena state highway. It was a 3.6 kilometer project that was completed in 2011, although it was not put into service until 2019, when the airport could be opened.
Previously, in 2009, the 30-kilometer San Javier-Zeneta highway was opened, which will continue until Santomera and the A-7. This is the 'terrace highway', whose execution has been waiting since 2010. None of the three sections have been put out to tender. This 12 kilometer axis is financed by the Ministry of Transport, thanks to an agreement initially set at 110 million euros, although its execution is in the hands of the Community, which next year plans to spend 5 million euros of that agreement. He reproaches the Ministry for not transferring what is necessary to be able to tender the first section, while at the same time demanding more money as the work becomes more expensive. The central government, for its part, criticizes the regional government's inability to execute the project.
Conservation works
The Ministry of Public Works plans to invest next year 37 million that will go towards the conservation of the road network, among which the Torre Pacheco bypass and the La Manga expressway stand out. There will be ten actions to eradicate traffic black spots.
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