The Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, highlighted the strong commitment of the Government and the Ministry to the development and improvement of infrastructures in La Rioja, a territory where, as the Minister has ratified, steady progress is made in the works and projects planned within the framework of the Department’s clear commitment to sustainable mobility and to achieve municipalities and more human and healthy environments.
“We invested more, we executed more, we promoted projects that were forgotten, we promoted their railway connections, we promoted sustainable mobility, the development of industrial activity, the options of Rioja and Rioja to access a decent home, to rehabilitate their houses and neighborhoods and we promoted their connections by road and the access of populations to the already existing itineraries,” said Raquel Sánchez during her visit, together with the president of La Rioja, Concha Andreu, at the beginning of the remodeling works of the Lodosa Link, on the AP-68 highway, located in the Autonomous City of Navel.
Works that “no other government has dared to do in the more than 40 years that the highway has been in service” and that are fundamental to prevent users of El Villar de Arnedo, Lodosa or Pradejón from traveling 20 km to Agoncillo whenever they need access to it sense Logroño”. “An anomaly that only we have rectified”, said the minister before pointing out that the works, which represent an investment of more than 4 million euros, will be finished in autumn, predictably, so the link will be in service this year.
The Lodosa link is just one example of the region’s strong commitment to mobility. In this regard, the minister has made several important announcements, such as, for example, the advances in La Ronda Sur, which may enter into service at the end of next year, and the strengthening of railway services, with the increase, throughout the year, of Renfe circulations on a working day between Logroño and Miranda or Zaragoza, to improve links with the AVE/Alvia services that connect from there to Barcelona, Valladolid, Madrid or Bilbao.
Development of the Southern Round of Logroño and AP-68
Thus, Raquel Sánchez has highlighted the work carried out by the Government “to streamline procedures, compensate with the concessionaire and start the works of the Southern Round, which will allow Logroño to improve its mobility, security and connectivity”.
The works of the Southern Round cover 30 km, of which 5 are new motorways, and represent an investment of 133 million euros. According to the minister, it is expected to be put into service at the end of next year, “with the consequent improvement of the city, since it will attract the 40,000 vehicles a day long journey towards this itinerary between Arrúbal and Navarrete, whether or not they have Via-T”.
Within the improvements of the AP-68 and its environment, the minister has confirmed that the Ministry continues to work on the Ebro Corridor and advances in the drafting of the study of actions to adapt the infrastructure to the new needs at the end of the concession of the motorway in November 2026. This study will conclude with a program of actions, such as those already presented for the AP-2 and AP-7 with investments programmed above 1 billion euros (presented last year), or the AP-1, with a total investment expected of almost 400 million euros (this last one presented last week in Burgos), to adapt the State Road Network to the new reality.
The minister also indicated that, with regard to the N-232 road, the drafting of the projects of the variants of Briones and Fuenmayor continues, and that the one of Villar de Arnedo will be released to public information in the coming weeks. These three projects will represent an investment of more than 130 million euros.
All this, without prejudice to the impulse of other works, which despite their lower budgetary impact, contribute significantly to the improvement of road safety and mobility in the daily life of the different users (vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists…), such as the work of rehabilitation of the firm that is being carried out on the N-232 road as it passes through Ausejo, Casalarreina and Tirgo, the work recently started for the construction of a cycle-pedestrian lane to cross the AP-68 as it passes through Lardero or the works recently tendered to improve the urban integration of the N-232A road as it passes through Tirgo.
Complete the A-12 in La Rioja
The head of the Department has stated that the Government is working to complete the A-12 motorway in La Rioja, between Logroño and Burgos, which will form a high-capacity axis towards León and Pamplona.
On the one hand, with the works in progress between Santo Domingo de la Calzada and Villamayor del Río, with more than 32 million euros executed, with which, once completed, the motorway would be completed in the territory of Rioja.
On the other hand, with the continuation to Ibeas de Juarros, when the new projects are tendered this year, and the last stretch to Burgos that will be submitted to public information also this year, as announced by the minister in her speech. In this way, this 2023 all the sections of this new motorway will be in the process of being concretized.
Railway development of La Rioja
Raquel Sánchez, before visiting the works of the Lodosa Link, visited the works of the Vara de Rey roundabout in Logroño, one of the last performances of phase 1 of railway integration and that, together with those developed in the Felipe VI park, will improve the quality of life and mobility in the city.
In this railway context, the minister recalled that last February the Ministry tendered the drafting of the feasibility study of the section that will continue until Miranda de Ebro and has announced two important novelties:
1. This month the new informative study between Zaragoza and Castejón will be submitted to public information.
2. Today, the Castejón-Logroño section has been sent for environmental assessment.
With regard to the variant of Rincón de Soto, with the aim of improving the current line by minimizing its affection, in compliance with environmental considerations, the minister has advanced that this month of April the work will be put out to tender for more than 74 million euros.
Industrial and housing development in La Rioja
To this increase in mobility opportunities is added the industrial development offered by the Ministry, through Sepes, to La Rioja.
In particular, the head of the Department has referred to the collaboration with the Government of Rioja to develop the City of Packaging and Packaging in Calahorsa, in the Sepes area in El Recuenco, as well as in the concretion of the building of the National Center of Packaging Technologies, to be a reference.
Also in El Sequero (Arrúbal), to promote the production of green hydrogen also thanks to the soil of Sepes, or in La Senda (Alfaro), where Raquel Sánchez has highlighted that for this year it is expected that it will already have electricity supply that allows the installation of companies that have already shown their interest in doing so.
Finally, with regard to housing, the minister pointed out that “we have tripled investment in housing in this region”, referring to the 1,800 young people who have applied for the rent bond and the impulse made by the Ministry for the creation of social housing: 60 under way thanks to the State Plan and more than 70 already agreed thanks to the Recovery Plan.
Characteristics of the Lodosa Link works
The works aim to complete the existing semi-link between the AP-68 motorway and the NA-123 road, which facilitates the incorporation into the motorway of vehicles travelling in the direction of Logroño and Bilbao. This performance will improve the functionality and mobility of the road corridor formed by the AP-68 motorway and the N-232 road.
The current link is located in the vicinity of km 164 of the AP-68 motorway. It is a unidirectional link whose current configuration only allows movements in the direction of Zaragoza, having two branches to and from Zaragoza, which connect with the autonomous road LR-123 towards Pradejón and El Villar de Arnedo, and with the autonomous road NA-123, towards Sartagudo and Lodosa.
Having this configuration, the access of the populations of the link environment (El Villar de Arnedo, Lodosa or Pradejón) to the AP-68 motorway in the direction of Logroño/Bilbao, is currently done through another link located in Agoncillo, which is 20 kilometers from the Lodosa link.
This situation will be corrected with the execution of the works, which will allow a better connection of the environment with the AP-68.