a circuit. This is what the Carmen neighborhood of Murcia has just become after the historic closure to traffic of the Puente de los Peligros, finally consummated this Thursday. The current municipal government defended from the outset that its Mobility Plan intended, among other issues, to prevent the Carmen neighborhood from continuing to be “a place of mere passage” for drivers from the municipality and from outside it. It is evident that the new ‘circuit’ created, and which will be maintained after the end of the works, does not encourage the use of the roads of this traditional district as a shortcut to access the center of Murcia. You enter through one place and exit through another, without the possibility of going around its streets many more times, and that has eliminated the passing traffic.
The influx of vehicles registered on the morning of this Thursday, especially in relation to the one verified a week ago, when the northbound lanes of Floridablanca avenue were closed, attest to this. “It is clear that many people have sought alternative routes, because this has been relatively calm,” Emilio pointed out from his bar, Flores, located at the Rollo crossroads. This was also indicated a few days ago by the mayor of Citizen Security, Enrique Lorca.
In fact, the new configuration has left stamps of vehicles, almost in a single file, that traveled with a certain amount of congestion, but also with more fluidity than one could presume, especially thanks to the presence of a Local Police officer in every corner. However, this can lead drivers to have to change their routines, reserving a little more time to reach their destination. «I have taken it with time, I live in Guadalupe and I come to Murcia every morning to bring the children to school at Carmelitas and to work and the truth is that the morning was a bit lost, even to get to my garage» explained Miriam, who acknowledged, however, that she has not encountered particularly heavy traffic on the highway. “The Sewer road is still fatal,” commented Antonio, a resident of Carmen, on the other hand, noting that one of the two access roundabouts of the A-30 highway, where vehicles from Cartagena arrive, has “lost” to reduce possible jams.
Changes in traffic are systemic and affect different areas of the city. The one that has possibly suffered the greatest impact from the change of the bridge this Thursday, in relation to increases in congestion, has been the Gran Vía. At around 8:30 a.m., a line of cars tried to leave this artery, given the bottleneck originated in the Martínez Tornel square, where they meet the vehicles coming from Plano de San Francisco and several pedestrian crossings. “We have seen a little more influx, but they were advancing,” commented the Sirvent saleswomen.
Traffic has also increased since last week on roads such as Paseo Marqués de Corvera, Cartagena street and Torre de Romo. On the other hand, no special problems were seen on the bridge of the Reina Sofía Hospital, although at noon, there were traffic jams at Intendente Jorge Palacios and Lieutenant Flomesta, although it must not be forgotten that Thursday is market day.
“The truth is that things have gotten a little worse at rush hour this morning, but we have been feeling the delays here since the works started, especially on Avenida de la Constitución,” says Alejandro, a 24-hour tobacconist. of the circular square. He has to come to work every day by car from Espinardo because, due to his schedule, and the current service, public transport does not meet his needs.
And that has been, for the moment, one of the main Achilles heels of the development of the plan: areas are closed to traffic and access to the city with public transport that does not improve its routes or frequencies and that will not at least until December, if it does not take a few more months, as recognized by municipal technicians. It was not strange to find this Thursday disoriented passengers who could not find their bus stop after the disappearance of the Alameda de Colón. That was the case of Madai on her return to Alcantarilla, surprised to see the disappearance of traffic on the Old Bridge.
The other great neighborhood uncertainty continues to be parking. «They do not think about the families that have more than one car; here there are still no deterrents and it has been very difficult for us to park for a long time”, lamented Antonio, a neighbor of the neighborhood fearing for “the future of shops”. «I already positioned myself against the closure of the Puente de los Peligros, but once they have closed it without remedy, what makes me sick is that they cut off traffic and there are barely two workers here and with the machinery stopped, if you go! to bother, do it quickly! This is unnecessary,” criticized Charo, a shop assistant at Toballa Calzados, located on Canalejas street, just a few meters from the Old Bridge. “Tourists are frightened by so many works,” he added.
Not all were critical, however, before this measure at street level. “It’s a pleasure to walk here, with less noise, cars and pollution,” commented María José and Federico, residents of the Infante neighborhood, about the historic passage over the river, declared an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC). “Cars must be removed from the city and even more so from this area, which functioned as a highway,” they defended, venturing that “in the long run we will be grateful for it.”
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