Tenerife Greenlights €16M TF-1 Highway Modernization

Tenerife's island government has approved plans to upgrade the Southern Highway (TF-1). This 16-million-euro project will improve an 18.3-kilometer stretch of road between Santa Cruz and Güímar, which is used by over 70,000 vehicles daily. In parallel, the process has begun for a future bus and carpool lane on the same route.

The work is set to begin before the end of the year and will be completed in two stages. The first stage, costing 8.9 million euros, will cover the section through Santa Cruz de Tenerife and El Rosario over six months. The second stage, budgeted at 7.2 million euros, will take 12 months and will focus on El Rosario, Candelaria, and Arafo.

José Miguel Ruano, the island's vice-president, announced these plans on Wednesday after the Governing Council meeting. He stated that the project will significantly improve road safety, make driving more comfortable, and ensure the road surface lasts longer.

The upgrades will also involve adding rumble strips along the road edges, repainting road markings with durable thermoplastic paint, installing mesh fencing in the central reservation, and putting up new informational signs at junctions, including banners, louvers, and overhead gantries.

These new works follow a recent 30-million-euro project on the same southern highway, which modernized 24 kilometers of road through Arico and Fasnia, improving safety for the over 70,000 daily drivers.

José Miguel Ruano emphasized the government's commitment to improving the island's road network, aiming to boost safety, sustainability, and service quality on one of Tenerife's key transport routes.

The Councillor for Roads, Dámaso Arteaga, provided technical details yesterday. The project involves strengthening the road surface with high-quality asphalt mixtures. This includes a draining top layer to improve grip and reduce noise, plus an intermediate layer to reinforce the road structure. He added that the project is sustainable, allowing for the use of recycled materials from road milling, provided it meets current regulations.

During its Wednesday meeting, the island's Governing Council also approved its second Equality Plan. This plan targets the Corporation's 1,700 employees (excluding those in the dependent public sector) and outlines nine key strategies and sixty specific actions. The plan aims to ensure genuine equality among public employees within the institution from 2026 to 2029. José Miguel Ruano described it as a "firm step" towards equal opportunities, also helping employees balance their family and professional lives.

The council also approved the renovation of the Néstor Pérez municipal baseball field in Puerto de la Cruz. This field is home to the Marlins, a club that has won several Spanish championships and is a major center for baseball on the island. The initial project, costing 91,600 euros, is expected to take six months.

The project will then be sent to the Puerto de la Cruz City Council, which will handle the required urban planning before the tender for the main renovation work can begin. This will allow the "ambitious reform" of the facility to go ahead.

Finally, an investment of almost 200,000 euros has been approved to completely update the electrical system at the La Esperanza camp. This work is expected to take four months. The camp's electrical infrastructure dates back to the 1960s-70s, and the island government, which took over the site in 1998, deemed the upgrade essential. This is particularly important as 40 public and private organizations use the space for their activities.