New Malaga residential area at advanced stage of construction threatened by traffic gridlocks

Proof of this is that the infrastructure works are practically complete, including a large central park covering 13,770 square metres.

One of the three developments of Neinor Homes, comprising 168 flats, has already finished construction. The second, also 168 flats, is already under construction.

Prices range from 290,000 euros for one-bedroom flats to over 600,000 for some four-bedroom flats. Neinor plans to hand over the keys to its first homes in Cortijo Merino by the end of next year.

In addition, a development of 165 flats by Nuovit is also under construction in the area (Bulevar 360), with prices ranging from 366,795 euros plus IVA for a one-bedroom flat to 888,030 euros plus IVA for a four-bedroom flat.

Work is also set to begin on 310 social housing flats by Vimpyca, 137 by Swedish developer Lagoom Living and a further 236 by Genivs. In addition, the area's original developer, Reina Marín, is currently applying for planning permission to build 93 flats.

In total, there are 1,370 homes, plus a shopping centre currently in the planning stages, which are already taking shape, even though the main access road is suffering constant traffic jams.

The city council has not resolved traffic gridlocks on the old Cártama road. The widening of this road, which currently has just one lane in each direction, has still not taken place and traffic jams are becoming increasingly frequent on a route also used by lorries from the nearby Amazon distribution centre.

Furthermore, the situation will become more complicated once the first residents of Distrito Zeta (more than 3,400 homes) begin to move into the area and when the government develops the more than 1,300 social housing units next to Cortijo Merino.

In recent years, the regional ministry of public works has shirked responsibility for undertaking this project, arguing that the road is now predominantly used for urban traffic and should therefore be taken over by the local council.

The city council has accepted this and has included it as its own project, but the central government's road department has blocked it with a negative report.

Last autumn, the municipal urban planning department commissioned consultancy firm Narval Ingeniería to adapt and update the project to widen the A-7054, from the roundabout at the junction with the Azucarera-Intelhorce road to Mercamálaga.

This review, which was awarded with a budget of 17,908 euros and a seven-month completion period, marks the first step on the long road to achieve the widening of this road. According to figures from the regional government, it carries more than 15,000 vehicles every day.

In response to enquiries from SUR, the urban planning department has reported that the design for the road widening project "has already been updated". It announced that "funding options will be examined in September".

"The matter will be discussed with the Junta and alternatives will be explored," municipal sources stated, adding that the Andalusian regional government remains part of the equation despite having reiterated in several reports its opposition to funding this project.

Traffic studies from recent years have highlighted the need to widen this road so that it does not become a traffic nightmare. One such study warns of the need to "plan for the widening of Avenida Ortega y Gasset", to provide a continuation of the section already widened up to the Intelhorce roundabout.

Another similar study from 2015 also highlighted the "need to proceed with the widening of Avenida de Ortega y Gasset, currently at the planning stage, to four lanes in each direction (two on the main carriageway plus two on the service road)".

It warns that the traffic situation in that area would become unbearable if the Distrito Zeta and Intelhorce projects were to go ahead without the construction of other new north-south roads.

The project to extend this road would involve widening it to 70 metres so that it can accommodate a central carriageway with two lanes in each direction, separated by a four-metre-wide landscaped median. It would also feature two service roads, each with two lanes, outer pavements and on-street parking. Furthermore, the plan envisages the possibility of reserving a lane for buses and high-occupancy vehicles, as well as a cycle lane.

The brief for this road-widening project sets out a budget of 17.8 million euros, with funding by the city council, which would cover 50 per cent, and by the developers of the new housing developments.

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