AP-7 upgrade

The Government has announced that 17 kilometres of the AP-7 motorway in the south of Alicante province will be upgraded to three lanes.

It’s the culmination of a long campaign to see improvements to the busy highway which, according to Ministry of Transport figures, is used daily by 9,000 lorries.

Local business groups have criticised the lack of investment in key road infrastructures in the province including the Alicante ring road.

The extra lane will be built between Crevillente at the intersection with the AP-7 and the Orihuela-Benferri CV-870 exit at a cost of €94 million.

The project will also see the revamping of five exit junctions.

A government statement said: “The Vega Baja and the Baix Vinapolo will have the privilege of being the only Alicante province regions to have three-lane motorways which will also improve road connections to Madrid.”

Welcome news but you have to wonder just what's so special about that particular stretch of road to warrant €94m being spent on it?

Hard to see how it improves connections with Madrid in any meaningful way as the junction with the A30 is still 25km further on. I suppose it might improve access to IKEA for some so there is that

Frankly IMO if they have a spare 94m to play with I'd suggest buying out the operator for the La Zenia toll and opening the road for free!

Or improving widening the N 332

Especially the N332 bottleneck at Torrevieja.

Bee

I agree with all of the above.

Widen the N332 and make the AP7 toll free south of Quesada. I do wonder if congestion on the N332 will be less if the La Zenia toll was removed. At the moment, you can join the AP7 at Los Montesinos, and get hit with TWO tolls before getting to La Zenia. Crazy. And the stretch between Monty and Quesada is in much need of a relay.

Just in time for the new tolls being introduced someone in 2024 no doubt, as divested by the EU

The tolls between Los Montesinos and La Zenia were the subject of debate a few years ago when the Benidorm tolls were removed. Apparently the company responsible for the 2 tolls towards La Zenia were only put in place on condition they were given a 50 year contract... hence they cannot be removed.

Be interesting to know the views of our N332 traffic advisors.

DaveP wrote:Apparently the company responsible for the 2 tolls towards La Zenia were only put in place on condition they were given a 50 year contract... hence they cannot be removed.

"Cannot"?

Any contract can be bought out, it's just a question of the price!