The City Council presents Benidorm Open Arena project to the Mobility Council and details the improvements being carried out in Severo Ochoa

The meeting of the Mobility Council held today at Benidorm City Hall has served to enable its members to learn about the main lines of the Benidorm Open Arena project that the city has submitted to the call for proposals for the ‘Comprehensive Local Development Strategy’ (EDIL) that will subsidise sustainable urban development actions within the framework of the FEDER funds for the period 2021-2027.

A detailed explanation by the municipal technicians in which it has been specified that there have been many municipalities in the Valencian Community that have participated in the call and that the resolution of the Ministry of Finance is expected for the month of September, so that if the Benidorm project is chosen “we could have the project ready to begin its development in October of this year” said Francis Muñoz, Councillor for Mobility.

The Council has made it clear that to qualify for the subsidy “the City Council must have a city strategy” and that is why “we have made such a great effort to approve the Urban Agenda of Benidorm” said Muñoz. The councillor has added that citizen participation is “key” to assess the proposals and, in this sense, he has revealed that the project to rehabilitate the bullring and its surroundings “has been one of the most voted”.

As already explained, the Benidorm Open Arena consists of three main actions. The first of them, the ‘Arena Live’, involves an investment of 10.5 million euros and includes the rehabilitation of the bullring and its conversion into a large multifunctional space for cultural, social and sporting activities”. In addition to this, there is the ‘Arena Joven’, the second project, with a budget of 3 million euros, “which proposes the creation of a youth centre, conceived as an accessible and multicultural space, integrative, inclusive and dynamic for training, leisure and active participation of the youth population”. And finally, the third project valued at 1.5 million euros, the ‘Arena Encuentro’, for the regeneration of the urban environment to improve connectivity between the Els Tolls-Salt de l’Aigüa neighbourhood and the city centre, as well as the northern part of the Foietes neighbourhood, through l’Aigüera, “also improving the accessibility and quality of public spaces”.

Here, an elevator to connect the l’Aigüera park with Els Tolls neighbourhood is planned.

On the other hand, the Mobility Council has been informed of the interventions that have been carried out or are being carried out on Severo Ochoa Avenue to improve mobility and safety for both road and pedestrian traffic. Thus, emphasis has been placed on the actions to eliminate traffic lights at intersections where possible, “as has been done for some time,” Muñoz has specified. The implementation of some roundabouts at certain intersections and horizontal signage at others to allow or prohibit some left or right turns has also been detailed, as well as the integration of the bicycle lane inside some roundabouts “to provide more safety for cyclists”.

Francis Muñoz has also advanced that in the so-called ‘Curva del Niño’ a step forward has already been taken towards the implementation of a definitive roundabout to replace the current provisional one “which has had, however, very positive effects due to the reduction in speed and the safety improvement”. Muñoz has announced that the City Council has already received the land necessary to build the roundabout, which will ultimately be paid for with municipal funds. At this point, it has also been indicated that the construction of a roundabout at the confluence of Ametlla de Mar with Avenida del Mediterráneo is still pending, “although this will surely be included in the second phase of the remodelling of the avenue”.

Another of the issues addressed at the Mobility Council has been the implementation of the Low Emission Zone (LEZ). “We are now in the process of providing information and resolving doubts to the public” said Muñoz, something that is being done through public attention and the municipal website. “We maintain contact with the agents involved and little by little we are moving forward and going deeper into the processing of the authorisations” added the councillor.

Francis Muñoz has expressed his conviction that it will be “a benefit for the citizens, because there will be better circulation and more space for pedestrians”. He also announced that the app for mobile phones would soon be launched and conveyed the message that “in general there will be very few changes and many facilities because the city has made a lot of progress for some time now.”