Radical changes in the tendering process for the construction of three regional motorways may mean the six lane link road between Jumilla, Venta Olivo, Calasparra and Caravaca is completed within two years.
The Regional Government is planning to divide work on three proposed regional motorways into 10 kilometre projects in order to make them cheaper to build and to facilitate smaller local and regional companies tendering for the work.
One of the proposed motorways is the 20k “Autovia del Norte” between Jumilla and Caravaca, which includes widening the Calasparra – Venta de Olivo road to a six lane motorway, will be the first project to be put out to tender next month. Work is expected to begin next year and be completed by 2014.
The other two motorways are the “Autovia del Oeste” between Caravaca and Lorca and the “Autovia Santomera-Yecla, which will connect Yecla with the existing A7 motorway.
The intention of the José Ballesta, Head of the regional Department of Public Works, is to divide the construction work, worth some 750 million euros, into 15 ten kilometer projects. The plan, based on the German model, would mean the companies contracted to carry out the work would assume the construction costs, which the regional Government would then pay back over several years after the completion of the infrastructures.
Although the end product would actually cost more the advantage is that the Regional Government could pay for the work “in installments.” The division of the work into smaller projects also addresses the concerns of smaller local and regional companies who have previously been unable to compete with large international and national conglomerates for road construction work in the region.
The new motorways will cut journey times between the Altiplano (Jumilla and Yecla) and Caravaca, provide an alternative route to the current A7, and cut travel times between Caravaca and Lorca. The new infrastructures will also provide a comprehensive regional motorway network with fast road links between regional towns and Valencia and Mar Menor.
