• The proposal incorporates the demands of the Cabildo,
  town councils and neighbors
  after a review process
  technical and institutional dialogue.
• This meeting is the second to be held with neighbors and
  neighbors to inform on the evolution of the project and facilitate their participation before the public information process
  
• 
  The
  infrastructure, key in the North-South Axis, will improve connectivity and road safety in Fuerteventura with a more sustainable and consensual investment
  

The president
of the Cabildo of Fuerteventura, Lola Garcia, and the Minister of Public Works,
Housing and Mobility of the Government of the Canary Islands, Pablo Rodriguez, has held
this Tuesday a working meeting with the president of the Cabildo of Fuerteventura, Lola Garcia, the mayor of Tuineje, Candelaria Umpiérrez, and the mayor of Pájara, Alejandro Jorge,
along with their respective teams, and neighbors to present the new
layout of the Cuchillete-Matas Blancas road project, one of the key actions of the North-South Axis
of the island.

This updated
proposal was born as a result
of a process of dialogue
technical and between administrations that has included the
precautionary suspension of the previous geotechnical campaign, a review of
alternatives by the Directorate General of Road Infrastructure and
various institutional meetings. This is the second meeting
with neighbors, after the one held in February,
in which their proposals and
concerns were collected, and which adds to the multiple meetings held with the
Cabildo of Fuerteventura and the municipalities of the area since the beginning of the legislature.

An infrastructure designed for Fuerteventura’s future

The new route
contemplates a total of 21 kilometers of high capacity road with two carriageways of two
lanes each and shoulders, a tunnel of approximately 500 meters between the
ravines of Tarajal de Sancho and Guerepe, and five new links that
will facilitate the connection with strategic nuclei of the island: Gran Tarajal,
Mazacote, Giniginamar, Tarajalejo and La Lajita.

The project is
divided into four sections: Section
1 (from kilometer point 0+000
to 5+000) is based on the current route
of the FV-2, minimizing the occupation of land, with a

specific speed of 120 km/h and improvements in the accesses to the industrial estate of
Cuchillete. Section 2 (5+000 to 13+350) moves away from the current route to
avoid affecting homes, with a speed of 100 km/h,
and incorporates key links
to facilitate access to coastal towns
such as Tarajalejo and La Lajita, as well as to the interior of the island. The
Section 3 (13+350 to 16+100) contemplates the crossing of the Tarajal ravine of
Sancho, discarding the alternative parallel to the FV-56 to protect agricultural and residential areas
. Finally, Section 4 (16+100 to 21+300) begins
with the construction of a tunnel and connects with the FV-2 at
Matas Blancas, taking advantage of the orography of the Guerepe ravine
to better integrate into the environment, without affecting buildings.

The new
layout of the Cuchillete-Matas Blancas road project will be submitted to
for public information, a fundamental step that will allow the public and
interested administrations to present allegations, make comments or
raise doubts about the document.

Dialogue,
consensus and sustainability

The president of
Cabildo, Lola Garcia, recalled that “in February we met with
the neighbors of Tuineje and Pájara to listen to their concerns and
contributions on the route of the North-South axis. Today we want to thank the
Ministry of Public Works, the counselor Pablo Rodriguez and his entire team
commitment fulfilled: they have returned to Fuerteventura to present a proposal
updated and consensual section Cuchilletes-Matas Blancas, as promised
. This route must be part of the next bilateral agreement between
the State and the Canary Islands, because it is key to the structuring of Fuerteventura.
We are confident that, after these meetings with the public, we can move towards
a final solution that has the support of all”.

During the meeting
Pablo Rodriguez stressed that “for the Government of the Canary Islands, the
materialization of the North-South axis on the island of Fuerteventura is a strategic priority
. It is a key infrastructure that vertebrates the territory, improves the insular mobility
and responds to a historical demand of the citizens
majorera”.

“The section
Cuchilletes-Mata Blanca, which crosses the municipalities of Pájara and Tuineje, is
one of the most relevant of the route. This is the second meeting that
have with the neighbors to listen to them, and see how we can
combine the need to connect
points of the island that until now lacked
accessibility and the effect that this could cause to the neighbors.
We do not understand any other way than this to work: to unite the interests of
all and draw a planning that benefits all canaries and
canarias”, added Rodriguez.

COMMUNICATION

Both the mayor
of Tuineje, Candelaria Umpiérrez, as the mayor of Pájara, Alejandro Jorge, have valued the presence
of the technical team of the Canary Islands Government, led by the counselor, in the
working meeting held on the island,
also highlighting the support of the Cabildo of Fuerteventura.

Both have
insisted that this meeting allows to follow up on the contributions and suggestions that the neighbors
moved in the previous meeting, in which they expressed their concerns
on the initially proposed route for the Cuchilletes-Mata Blanca
section of the North-South axis.

With this new
proposal, the Government of the Canary Islands advances in its commitment to implement modern, sustainable and fully adapted to the island realities road infrastructures
.