The Ministry raises the cost of duplicating the Seville highway by four million euros

The duplication of the Seville highway is progressing. At least on paper. At the moment there are no works or start date, but the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda has approved the project to double the accesses to Badajoz from Seville.

This is the reorganization of the N-432 road, whose budget has risen by four million euros with respect to the forecast included in the latest state budgets. Now they indicate that the work will cost 25.2 million euros.

The forecast collected in the accounts is half a million for this 2022, which already indicates that this year the start of works is not expected. In addition, it allocates another two million for 2023, six million for 2024 and eight million for 2025. Together they add up to 16.5 million euros, although the total collected is 21 million euros and it was indicated that the work would end in 2026. That last year there is no forecast because the multi-year spending ends in 2025. There will be 4.5 million euros left to allocate. Now another 4.2 million euros are missing.

In any case, the administrative procedure has taken another step with the approval of the project.

The works will be carried out in the first 10.5 kilometers of the road to Seville or Zafra. Between kilometer 1 and 4.6, four roundabouts and two-way service roads will be built to organize access to suburban developments. Between that kilometer 4.6 to 10.5 they reorganize the accesses through service roads that connect to three new roundabouts.

The project also includes other actions, such as the design of the drainage, that of the walls necessary to overcome the differences in elevation in the cross sections of the first 800 meters, the signage, beaconing and defenses, the measures proposed in the study of aesthetic planning and landscaping and lighting of the first section (between km 1,000 and 4,660).

Likewise, it covers a section located between the access to the Los Montitos urbanization and the roundabout at kilometer 0.960, which is mainly used for pedestrian traffic. There they will rehabilitate the pavement, build the pavement, provide public lighting and replace the vehicle containment systems on the bridge over the San Gabriel stream.

Pending since 2014

Badajoz has been waiting for the start of these works for years. They announced it for the first time in 2008, but it did not appear in the budgets until 2014. In 2018 they gave it more than 15 million euros in accounts that were extended until January 1, 2021.

The procedures have been very long. In June 2020, the project went public and until now, almost two years later, it has not been approved.

This work is highly demanded by the number of people from Badajoz who go to Zafra and to Seville without having to go to Mérida to take the highway.

The demand that exists and the delay that it accumulates makes it repeat itself in the political debate and, from time to time, the opposition to the Government claims it, as Senator Francisco Fragoso did a few months ago. Before, the full City Council had already claimed it without success.