Benidorm will install traffic lights on the ground of Ruzafa crossing with Herrerías and Emilio Ortuño streets, one of the most used by pedestrians

Benidorm City Council will install traffic light beacons embedded in the ground at the intersection of Ruzafa, Herrerías and Emilio Ortuño streets, “one of the most pedestrian traffic in the entire city,” as the councillor of Mobility and Works, José Ramón González de Zárate informed. These devices are synchronized with the vertical traffic lights, so that they light up with the color of the pedestrian phase (red / green) indicating whether or not to cross.

De Zárate has explained that eight units of these beacons are going to be placed, which are designed to avoid hazards to pedestrians who, for example, may be distracted watching their mobile devices and therefore are not attentive to vertical traffic lights. "Thus we reinforce traffic light signaling, reducing the danger of abuses," he said.

Apart from these traffic lights on the ground, the action also contemplates the implementation of “four acoustic signal devices for blind pedestrians, equal to the push buttons that we already have installed in other parts of the city”; as well as the placement of “electromagnetic turns” that “detect the intensity of traffic by regulating to regulate the phases and frequencies of traffic lights to avoid vehicle collapse”.

The councillor of Mobility and Works indicated that "this action is closely related to the 'Smart City' and the use of new technologies, in this case applied to road safety." But in addition, it is also going to “improve accessibility for people with mobility problems, since we are going to change the entire pavement of the sidewalks of this crossing, which will follow the granite model of Herrerías street”. Right now we are working on the adaptation of the sidewalks.

"With this action, small but very important, we fulfill the commitment that we acquired with the Neighborhood Council and with the Neighborhood Association of the Central Zone that in 2019 asked us to improve the road safety and accessibility of this crossing," he added.

It is expected that both performances, traffic lights and sidewalks, will be completed "for Holy Week."