Ciudad Real.- The delegate of the Government of Spain in Castilla-La Mancha, Francisco Tierraseca, has highlighted the great device of means, both human and material, that Castilla-La Mancha will count on in the campaign of Winter Road 2023-2024, to face the effects of possible frost and snowfall in the 3,741 kilometers of roads, highways and state highways that pass through this Autonomous Community. Of these, he has specified, 1,348 correspond to motorways, 208 to toll highways and 2,185 to conventional roads.
Tierraseca has visited in Manzanares (Ciudad Real) one of the road conservation points and road control center that the Ministry of Transport and Urban Mobility (Mitma) has in the Autonomous Community, after having chaired the Regional Commission of Winter Roads, in which the device that the General Administration of the State makes available to Castilla-La Mancha for the winter period has been exposed to the different administrations with which the State coordinates all the actions in the field of emergencies.
The Government delegate has insisted on “the close collaboration and absolute coordination” that the Government Delegation maintains with the Regional Administration, and with the other administrations, to act “quickly and effectively” in the face of possible adverse weather episodes that may be recorded at any point in the Autonomous Community during this campaign, which will be in force between November 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024.
Castilla-La Mancha, Tierraseca recalled, is one of the Communities with more territory and, therefore, more affection in the design of the winter road campaign because “through the autonomous community pass four of the six main axes of land connection that start from Madrid”. The region, the delegate also recalled, borders with six autonomous communities and also with all of them coordination in prevention and action is key.
“The specific objectives in the State Road Network is to prevent the formation of ice sheets, through preventive action, or minimize traffic conditions, removing snow, if it has already fallen, or possible vehicles that may have been trapped on the tracks,” explained the delegate.
Specifically, for the 2023-2024 Campaign in Castilla-La Mancha, 177 snowploughs, 101 weather stations and 37 brine plants will be available. In addition, 33,261 tons of fluxes, mainly salt, and 2,142,500 liters of brine have been prepared for possible use.
As for the specific winter road parking lots, built for this purpose by the General Directorate of Roads, there are 13 emergency parking lots available: 7 in Toledo, 2 in Guadalajara, 2 in Cuenca and 2 in Ciudad Real. In addition, the parking project for the province of Albacete in the vicinity of the Montalvos link on the A-31 has already been approved by the General Directorate of Roads. He will be joined by another project for a new car park in Guadalajara at kilometre 61 of the A-2, which is in the drafting phase.
Finally, with regard to the staff that will be directly assigned to this campaign, there will be 717 workers, among staff of the concession companies and staff of the Administration.
In Ciudad Real
The government delegate, taking advantage of his visit to the facilities of Manzanares, has also referred to the specific device of the province of Ciudad Real for this Winter Road campaign, planned by the State.
Thus, it has specified that it will monitor, carry out preventive actions and intervene, if necessary, in a total of 728.72 kilometers of state roads, of which 255.72 kilometers correspond to motorways and 473 kilometers are conventional roads. There will be 130 workers assigned to this campaign in the province, among personnel of companies and the Administration.
For the province of Ciudad Real, the General Administration of the State has planned for the 2023-2024 campaign that 29 snowploughs, 26 weather stations and 7 brine plants will be available. The Winter Road plan has foreseen, for this province, 4,860 tons of founders and 454,000 liters of brine.
Tierraseca has insisted on paying “special attention” to the weather forecasts made by AEMET and to the information on the state of the roads that is disseminated both by the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), on road panels or on social networks, and by the Government Delegation.
In the previous Regional Commission, together with the delegate, the heads of the Territorial Civil and Emergency Protection Unit and the Promotion Area of the Government Delegation participated; representatives of the General Directorate of Citizen Protection and of the Roads of the Community Board; and of the State Road Demarcation in Castilla-La Mancha, of the AEMET, of the UME, of the Civil Guard and National Police and representatives of the Provincial Council of Toledo, of the City of Toledo and of the Castilla-Spanish Red Cross in La Mancha.