PEDESTRIAN PRIORITY

Having played host to a road safety campaign last week, and following the originally confusing implementation of bike and car shared roads in Torrevieja, the mayor of the city, Eduardo Dolón, has this week stated that the next stage in the plan is to widen the area to much more of Torrevieja´s main street network.

During last week´s conference, the concept of less speed and more bikes was introduced by the DGT traffic department, now, in Torrevieja, a new plan, named “ZONA 30”, will be fully implemented in the first quarter of 2015, aimed at promoting sustainable urban mobility, significantly reducing accidents, decreasing noise and CO2 emissions, and also involve the establishment of a regular lower speed limit with no requirement for fast acceleration.

Although cars will of course be allowed to drive through the sections being converted, they will have less priority than other road users. Dolón explained that the new zones are not to be confused with either pedestrian areas, or roads where the speed limit is simply capped at 30 kilometres per hour, but rather combining road users to coexist in the areas, with more priority given to pedestrians and cycles.

Road signs will be placed on the streets being converted, with little other physical alteration at this stage, warning vehicle drivers that they are in one of the “ZONA 30” areas, and therefore priority must be given to more vulnerable road users.

Although much of the city centre is already pedestrianised, Dolón claims that the priority of pedestrians is still not always recognised, as many cars still drive on the areas to access parking garages and carry out deliveries, “ZONA 30 is a way of reversing this”, he says, whilst also reducing the stress of residents, making the areas ”more enjoyable” and “safer”, especially for pedestrians, cyclists and moped riders, although there has been no mention of reducing the noise caused by the latter.

Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/45099/

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