The Junta awards the contract to repair the road surface on eleven kilometres of the A-334 between Purchena and Fines.
The Regional Ministry of Development allocates 886,253 euros to a road that had not undergone a complete overhaul since it was first opened 30 years ago.
The Consejería de Fomento, Infraestructuras y Ordenación del Territorio has awarded the joint venture formed by CHM and Padelsa a contract for 886,253 euros for the complete repair of eleven kilometres of the A-334 road between the towns of Purchena, Olula del Río and Fines, in the province of Almería. Eloísa Cabrera, the regional minister of Public Works in the province of Almería, stressed the importance of an action that will mean “a substantial improvement in traffic on a stretch of road on which no comprehensive work had been carried out since it was commissioned 30 years ago”.
These works, which are 80 percent co-financed by European Feder funds, are centred on a section of the A-334 road that goes from the Purchena bypass, at kilometre 48, and the beginning of its conversion from a conventional road to the Almanzora Dual Carriageway, at kilometre 59.
Since its inauguration in the 1990s, only palliative conservation measures have been carried out, despite the fact that it is a road with a high traffic intensity, with around 12,000 vehicles per day, including five percent of lorries. This historical lack of major maintenance measures has led to a severe depletion of the structural capacity of the road surface on this section.
The intervention will consist of extending a layer of hot bituminous mix over the entire width of the carriageway. In addition, the road surface will be milled in sections where it is necessary to maintain the level of the road surface. Both milling and subsequent paving will be carried out between road edge lines, thus not affecting the existing safety barrier. On the other hand, in the sections where the existing wearing course is not milled and there is a safety barrier, it will be removed and a new barrier will be installed in accordance with the regulations in force. In addition, the road markings will be replaced.
These road safety works on the A-334 add to the investment commitment that, from day one, the current Andalusian Government has made to improve communications in the Almanzora Valley region. In the last two years, almost 50 million euros have been allocated to complete the work on the Almanzora Dual Carriageway (A-334), work on which began 15 years ago and on which, to date, only 22 kilometres had been opened to traffic between Fines and El Cucador.
The El Cucador-La Concepción section, on which work began in September 2019 for 25.6 million euros, is nearing completion, with a degree of execution of more than 95 percent and six months ahead of schedule. In turn, at the end of July, work began on the key section to connect the new dual carriageway with the Mediterranean Dual Carriageway (A-7), with a budget of 24 million euros. This will not only provide a response not only to the residents of the Almanzora region, but also to a marble sector that has been waiting for years for a direct route for its goods to the Mediterranean coast.