Santa Cruz Scraps Bike Lane Project, Drops Supreme Court Appeal

Santa Cruz City Council has decided to scrap its plans for a city center bike lane. This means they are withdrawing their appeal to the Supreme Court. The appeal was against a ruling by the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) last March, which cancelled the city's new rules for Mobility and Road Safety. The bike lane sections affected are on Méndez Núñez, El Pilar, and Villalba Hervás. Mayor José Manuel Bermúdez also intends to remove the bike lane on San Sebastián Avenue.

After the Christmas holidays, the City Council plans to remove the bike lane markings and barriers from the controversial sections on Méndez Núñez, El Pilar, and Villalba Hervás streets. The local neighborhood group, El Perenquén, had complained about this route. Mayor Bermúdez explained yesterday that the decision was made because "we are not going to wait forever for what a judge here or in Madrid decides about the bike lane." He added that between Epiphany and Carnival, the bike lane will be gone from these streets. Instead, the council will create more loading/unloading zones, motorcycle parking, and disabled parking spaces, as agreed with local businesses.

The mayor also addressed other bike lanes in the city. The lane from Bravo Murillo to the Interchange will remain. The plan is to link it to the new lane being built on Anaga Avenue, which they hope to extend to Las Teresitas beach in the future. However, the San Sebastián Avenue bike lane will be removed because another lane already connects to the Interchange, making it redundant. The council will consider other uses for this space.

Bermúdez stressed that dropping the bike lane project will "reduce waiting times and begin drafting a new Mobility ordinance." He noted that the city's 1985 ordinance is currently in effect, and it was the main rule governing city life until last year.

Mobility councilor Evelyn Alonso added that the Board has fast-tracked the new Mobility ordinance. She expects a draft to be ready next month. This will be followed by a month-long public consultation, allowing citizens to review it. After that, the final project will be drafted, including a regulatory impact analysis report. The previous report was deemed insufficient by the TSJC, leading to the annulment of the old ordinance.

Carlos Tarife, the Councilor for Public Services, disagreed that removing the bike lane was a "failure" by the City Council. He explained that "the main error lies in a regulatory impact report that, had it been well done, would not have led to our current situation." He confirmed that the 1985 ordinance remains in force, allowing work to continue on other operational bike lanes, such as the one on Anaga Avenue.

When asked if the dismantled bike lane would be reintroduced with the new ordinance, Tarife noted that the Mobility department has a master plan for bicycles with 78 routes across the city. Its implementation will be up to that department. He also mentioned that the Noise Map, which has received initial approval under his remit, suggests creating more bike lanes to reduce traffic noise in the city.