The Urban Scene Advisory Council endorses the Mediterráneo remodeling project

The Advisory Council of Urban Scene has endorsed today the project of execution of the first phase of remodeling of Mediterráneo Avenue. Municipal technicians explained to the members of this advisory body - formed by representatives of the groups of the corporation, municipal technicians, representatives of business and neighborhood entities, and external advisors - the details of this remodeling that covers the section of Mediterráneo avenue that runs between Europa avenue and La Hispanidad square, and that includes the renovation of the latter and Puente streets, Pérez Llorca -the pending section-, Esperanto, Valencia, Bilbao and Emilio Romero -between the Mediterráneo and Alcoy avenues- .

The project, amounting to 11,498,000 euros, conceives Mediterráneo avenue as a "parallel axis" to Levante Promenade, in which space for pedestrians is gained, access to private vehicles is limited, and all the architectural barriers when configuring the road as a "single platform".

The project has a material execution time of 11 months. In this regard, the mayor, Toni Pérez, stressed the importance of being agile in the process to "try" that the work "only affects one Easter and one summer" to minimize the impact on the economic activity of Mediterráneo avenue and adjacent streets. The mayor indicated that to meet this execution schedule, the work should be awarded in September to begin in October.

Once endorsed by the Council of Urban Scene, the project of execution must be approved in full. In a subsequent session, the plenary session will have to make feasible the bidding conditions to tender the work. A tender that, for its amount, must be published for a period of 45 days in the Official Journal of the European Union (DOUE).

Pérez clarified that "the procedure could have been simpler" if this first phase had been less ambitious and had sacrificed actions in the subsoil or in the adjacent streets. "An option -specified- that we have not considered because we understand that the right thing for the city is to make an integral action".

Details of the project

The remodeling of the avenue goes through the renovation of all the infrastructures of the subsoil, fundamentally water, which are "very deteriorated" due to the age, which in many cases exceeds 40 years. Thus, the potable water and sewerage network will be renewed, and the rainwater network will be improved with a new collector of greater capacity and, above all, by connecting this network with l'Aigüera network through the street Esperanto.

The public lighting network will also be completely renovated, in which 'led' technology will be implemented and for which two types of lighting have been planned: on one side, luminaires with projectors on the columns; and on the other hand, luminaires with a diameter between 4 and 6 meters suspended by steel cables that will save the treetops without losing light.

The project includes a very significant increase in vegetation throughout the avenue -conserving the current trees- and especially in Plaza de la Hispanidad. A square that will undergo a significant change configuring itself as "an urban forest", without architectural barriers, with roads to cross it and with the installation of a large ornamental fountain.

In terms of paving, asphalt has been chosen on the roadway; while in the pedestrian areas black and white pieces will be used that will be degraded - darker the closer to the road. This bichromia will break with some blue pieces.

Regarding the adjacent streets, they will have a "very similar treatment" to the one that was implemented in the recently remodeled section of Dr. Pérez Llorca Avenue. The urban furniture arrangement in groups and zig-zag will be exported to the Mediterranean from this renewal.

The project also includes the installation of singular elements. Among them, a 'tecnohito' of 22 meters in the roundabout at the confluence of the Mediterranean with Plaza de la Hispanidad and Esperanto. It is a metal structure covered with a mesh 'led' that allows multimedia playback. To this 'tecnhito' are added the two 'technoparadas' for public transport, which follow the same model.

Finally, the proposal includes the implementation of technological elements of the 'smart city' as its own fiber optic network, Wi-Fi network and sensors to control temperature indicators, pollution, etc., access controls, CCTV cameras, and remote control for the management of services such as water, lighting or irrigation.