The Directorate General of Traffic launches a new Special Operation tomorrow Thursday 14 at 3 p.m. on the occasion of the bridge on August 15 that will last until 24 hours on Sunday 17.
In these 4 days, Traffic forecasts that there will be 7,040,000 movements of both long and short distance along all the roads of the national geography. During this long weekend, in addition to the trips of departure and return due to the change of fortnight, they will join those that are made to populations of the coast and beaches or areas of second residence because it is a few days of leisure and weekend rest within the typically holiday month that is August.
Of the more than 7 million long-distance trips that are going to take place these days, 203,000 will be carried out on roads in Cantabria. Throughout these days it is expected that the greatest presence of vehicles will occur in tourist areas, access to beaches and mountain environments.
The points with the greatest traffic intensity will be in the accesses to Cantabria from the Plateau on the A-67, as well as in the eastern area of the A-8, bordering the Basque Country.
In the latter area, restrictions on movement to goods vehicles in certain time zones have been established in order to facilitate movement.
The moments of greater presence of vehicles will occur on the afternoon of Thursday, August 14, the morning of Friday, August 15 and in the same way, intense traffic is also expected throughout Sunday, August 17, coinciding with the completion of the bridge and the return of vehicles to their places of origin.
For the development of this special operation, the Traffic Sector of the Civil Guard will deploy in Cantabria up to 180 agents, who will count on the collaboration of the local police of the main municipalities of the region. There is also the collaboration of the staff of the Northwest-Cantabrian Traffic Management Center, road maintenance staff and emergency services.
For this reason, Traffic insists on drivers taking extreme road safety measures and, especially, not driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. In addition, it is essential never to lower your guard, whether it be day trips or night trips, even if it is a short and well-known journey, to put on your safety belt, respect the speed limits and road signs.
During these days, the preventive measures of control of speed, alcohol and drugs by the Surveillance Forces of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard will be intensified.
SPECIAL MEASURES
In order to cover this operation and make all planned movements safe, Traffic has established a series of traffic regulation, management and surveillance measures for which it has the maximum availability of its human resources: agents of the Traffic Grouping of the Civil Guard, official personnel of the 8 Traffic Management Centers and personnel in charge of equipment maintenance and installation of measures on the road, in addition to the personnel of the emergency services.
With regard to material resources, the DGT has fixed and mobile speed control radars, camouflaged cameras and vans to control the use of mobiles and seat belts, as well as helicopters and drones for surveillance from the air and unmarked vehicles and motorcycles that will circulate on all types of roads in order to check the correct behavior of drivers during driving.
To encourage circulation in the most sensitive areas, reversible and additional rails with cones will be installed in the hours of greatest circulatory influx and alternative itineraries will be established. Likewise, the works on the roads will be paralyzed, the celebration of sports tests and other events that suppose the occupation of the road will be limited and the circulation of vehicles that transport dangerous goods, special transports, as well as the circulation of freight trucks in general, on certain stretches of roads, dates and times will be restricted.
The established device can be consulted in https://www.dgt.es/conoce-el-estado-del-trafico/recomendaciones-de-trafico/.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO HEAVY VEHICLES
In addition, due to the high traffic intensities planned for this weekend on the AP-4 motorway between the provinces of Seville and Cadiz in the direction of Cadiz and with the aim of improving safety and fluidity on that road, dynamic roadside will be enabled during the afternoon of Thursday 14 and the morning of Friday 15.
For this reason, despite the fact that there are no restrictions on heavy vehicles in this section, it is recommended that MMA freight vehicles over 7,500 kg plan their journeys and, as far as possible, avoid increasing traffic (Cadiz) between kilometer points 13+500 (Dos Hermanas) and 78+000 (Jerez de la Frontera) in the time slots with the greatest traffic intensity (Thursday 14 between 15:00 and 20:00 hours and Friday 15 between 09:00 and 13:00 hours).
TRAFFIC FORECASTS
According to traffic forecasts, on Thursday afternoon 14, mainly between 4 p.m. and 11 p.m., there will be significant movements of vehicles that will cause high intensities and problems of circulation in the exits of the large cities, as well as in the main roads of access to the tourist areas of the coast, second residence and towns at parties.
On Friday the 15th in the morning (from 9 to 14 hours) will continue the intense outbound traffic of the urban centers, as well as in late morning destination areas, which will add to the usual short-distance access to beaches and festivities in numerous towns throughout the national geography.
On Saturday 16, intense traffic will continue from the early hours of the morning in the direction of departure from the large urban centers, as well as in the itineraries that link coastal towns access to the coast and areas of second residence, to which will be added the usual short-distance access to beaches and for the festivities of the Virgin of August.
Finally, on Sunday the 17th the circulation will be conflictive in the morning both on short-distance routes on roads that communicate populations of the coast, as well as on the accesses to beach areas and, already in the afternoon (especially from 18 to 23 hours) the return of those who end their days of rest may present problems in the main roads of communication that channel all the movement of return from the tourist areas of coast, rest and second residences to the accesses of the large urban centers.
Therefore, Traffic always recommends planning in advance the trip for the best route and avoiding, as far as possible, the most conflictive hours.
As usual, in the accounts of X @informacionDGT and @DGTes, radio and television news bulletins, as well as telephone 011, report the situation of traffic in real time and any incidents that may exist.
In addition, in these hot days in which the risk of fires is extreme, it is essential to be permanently informed to avoid cut roads or other areas that may be affected.
When this happens, both the Civil Traffic Guard and the other State Security Forces make preventive cuts on the roads so that the means of extinction work and to protect the users of nearby access roads from fire and smoke. In these situations, it is recommended to remain calm and follow the official safety recommendations and those of the agents on the road.
- Never go through it. Under no circumstances try to cross if the fire has passed from one side of the road, the smoke can disorient and intoxicate you and cause collisions with other vehicles that circulate on that stretch. Turn around and call Emergency Services (112).
- Trapped. If you are blocked and disoriented on a road in the midst of a fire, call Emergencies immediately. In such a situation, you may well not find a way out on your own or know which way you are or where the fire is going.