Until 3 years ago it was one of the most symbolic roundabouts in the region but now, after it has been starved of care, the main La Zenia roundabout on the N-332 lies abandoned. What grass remains is starched and burnt dry, quite probably with little chance of recovery, as the island’s irrigation system has been damaged for the last three years.
Traditionally in Spain, the roundabout is a much-loved feature in most municipalities, where the respective councils are continually trying to outdo each other. The decoration of the roundabouts seems to be able to unleash mountains of cash, heavy economic outlays for public budgets. However, this is not the case in La Zenia where the feature now seems to lie abandoned.
This has prompted the residents association, AVCRL, now Unidos por la Costa, to write a letter to the State Highway’s Department in the province of Alicante, in which it states that La Zenia roundabout “has been in a state of total abandonment for at least three years due to a breakdown in the irrigation system that requires work that would involve diverting traffic from the national road and around the island, since the failure is located beneath ground.
AVCRL continues, this roundabout is located at a critical point and is navigated by thousands of drivers daily, many of whom go to La Zenia Boulevard Shopping Centre. Closing the road would create a bad impression of the municipality,” they say.
The letter states that the City of Orihuela claims that the repair of the breakdown has not been undertaken because the State Highway Unit in Alicante will not grant the relevant authorisations. For this reason, the association has asked this body to confirm which administration is competent to repair the breakdown. If it is a state jurisdiction, it has asked them to specify the reasons for such a long delay in the repair and when it will be carried out.
It also requests that in the event of it being municipal competence, they provide the date of the council’s letter asking permission to repair the irrigation system, and the reasons why it is denied.
Finally, it has asked that the agency ensures the fluidity of traffic and road safety when the repair work is eventually carried out.
