Highlighted by an article in last week’s Leader Newspaper, ‘Torrevieja’s Dangerous Footpaths’, the wall of a private plot runs down the middle of a pavement in Calle Ramón y Cajal, forcing pedestrians to walk on the narrow road.
Problems are also compounded for pedestrians by the positioning of seven refuse contains which reduce the width of the pavement even further, and now the PSOE has denounced he city council which, although identifying the real estate company that owns the private plot, it accuses of taking no action because the council and the company are closely linked.
A disciplinary file was opened in 2018 when the municipal surveyors verified that this section of street was a real trap, impassable for a pedestrian but the file has now expired and has not been reopened. The socialists have therefor demanded that the mayor, Eduardo Dolón, who failed to respond to the complaint when it was made at the last plenary, order the reopening of the file, since he is also the councillor for Urban Planning.
The PSOE alleges that his department is acting in consideration of the owners of the plot that occupies the pavement, well-known builders from Orihuela.
The footpath in question is the most difficult, narrow and impassable pavement in the town centre. It runs parallel to the popular Juan Aparicio promenade and is used daily by dozens of pedestrians, even in winter. Barely 40 centimetres wide in some sections of Calle Ramón y Cajal, it is also surrounded by a battery of dilapidated containers. Impossible for baby carriages, a wheelchair or personal mobility vehicles forcing users to move onto the road.
