Mijas urges government to close motorway pedestrian overpasses to prevent suicide attempts

Mijas town hall has reiterated its request to the motorway department of the Ministry of Transport to close all pedestrian overpasses above the A-7 motorway as it passes through the municipality. With this, it aims to prevent suicide attempts, given the repeated incidents, the most recent of which occurred on 31 March.

Among the proposed measures are the immediate and comprehensive technical evaluation of all pedestrian overpasses located along this section, specifically focusing on preventing people from falling onto the roadway and the priority adoption of effective solutions, "whether through complete vaulting or any other enclosure, barrier or structural protection measure that offers an equivalent and effective result".

The proposal also includes the implementation "of immediate temporary measures to tangibly reduce the current risk".

The town hall has stated that on 11 March, before the latest incident, it had already sent a letter to the central government department, accompanied by a report issued by the Mijas Local Police, which highlights "the need to implement a suicide prevention system through the complete vaulting of the elevated pedestrian bridges" located in the section between exit 1014 and kilometre 1029.

The report raises awareness of "repeated episodes" of people jumping from these overpasses, "with fatal consequences from a personal and family point of view, as well as the added risk that such events entail for road safety, for drivers for the very operation of the emergency services".

"Mijas cannot resign itself to these footbridges continuing to be the scene of further tragedies. Nor can it be acceptable that a piece of infrastructure belonging to the state motorway network remains without the protective measures that the reality of the situation so clearly demands. Acting now is not only advisable, it is necessary," the town hall's letter to the Ministry of Transport concludes.