Marbella permanent closure, 'without prior notice', of one access road to A-7 motorway outrages locals

This closure is not the only one under consideration along a stretch of road that is already a far cry from meeting the standards of a dual carriageway. Along its entire length between Fuengirola and Manilva, the route features several junctions where the acceleration and deceleration lanes are merely token measures. Many cars have to come to a complete stop before they can merge onto the road.

The safety risks are clear on this road that is set to become a boulevard in the future, once the Ministry of Transport has completed the study it is carrying out on the A7 and AP-7 links between Torremolinos and Torreguadiaro.

However, there is still a long way to go before that happens, as it is currently nothing more than a feasibility study exploring various options, with no decisions or budgets.

On social media pages such as 'Marbella se queja', comments from outraged motorists have been pouring in over the last two days, since the closure came into effect.

"I just don't know who came up with the idea of closing that access road. The chaos that's going to ensue at the Don Carlos bridge is going to be a nightmare," one member commented.

"Please sort this out and reopen the entrance and exit. It's causing problems for those of us who work in that area. Now we have to make a U-turn on the Elviria," wrote another.

Some, however, highlighted how dangerous the merging points are. "At first glance, it seems to me that it's quite rightly closed, because joining a 120km/h road without an acceleration lane from a Stop sign, that is, from 0km/h, seems to me like suicide or murder. That's why I think it had to be closed."

Mayor of Marbella Ángeles Muñoz has urged the government to postpone the decision. The town hall has issued an official statement echoing the concerns of the local authority and the public.

It has demanded that this decision be reversed to avoid causing inconvenience to residents in the Las Chapas district, at least until work on the internal roads finishes.

Muñoz described the closure of this access point as "nonsense", as it had happened without prior notification to either local residents or the town hall. "The work was carried out yesterday without prior notice or sufficient time to launch an information campaign that would have allowed residents to find out about the available traffic alternatives," she stated.

The mayor pointed out that, while the ministry is the authority responsible for the road, the lack of communication regarding the implementation of the closure, approved in 2020, is "inconceivable".

"In the absence of solutions from the central government, the town hall had planned a service road and is currently carrying out improvement works on the internal roads in the area, which have not yet been completed. We are calling for access to remain open until this work is done, for an information campaign to be launched for local residents and for greater dialogue with the local authority," Muñoz stated.

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