AP-7 motorway closure to repair crash damage may not take as long as feared

The concessionary has indicated that work may only take two weeks rather than two months

Damage to the AP-7 motorway tunnel in Pilar de la Horadada, which was caused by a fatal truck crash, will mean that the carriageway from Alicante towards Cartagena is closed for repairs.

An article in a provincial Spanish newspaper on May 16 indicated that the work could take “at least two months”, continuing into mid-July at the height of the summer season.

Traffic is being diverted onto the N-332, which runs parallel to this 4km stretch of the motorway between the town centre and the coast, from km770 by Lo Monte Campsite to km774 by the border with Murcia region at the north entrance to San Pedro del Pinatar.

The N-332 only has a single lane in each direction in this area, which as a result is becoming quite congested at busy times of day, prompting fears of serious tailbacks in the summer.

However, a spokesman for the concessionary company that built and manages this part of the motorway, AUSUR, told Murcia Today that he could not confirm this.

Indeed, he indicated that it was unlikely to take that long and ventured that it might only take two weeks.

He said the work would definitely continue for “at least” this week and the next, and may well take a bit longer than that, but indicated that it was very unlikely to be as long as two months.

Fatal fire

The accident on May 9 occurred when a truck overturned in the tunnel after a tyre burst, trapping the 55-year-old man driving it inside the cabin.

The vehicle caught fire and a combination of the flammable materials it was carrying and its own fuel fed the flames and produced dense smoke, killing the driver.

Another truck also became trapped in the tunnel but that driver escaped unhurt, while firefighters evacuated everyone else and no other injuries were reported.

The concessionary found that all the lighting and communication circuits had been damaged in the north half of the 800m tunnel, as well as two fans near the seat of the fire, protective elements, steel cable casings and CCTV. The tunnel walls also had to be cleaned with pressure washers.

Improvements project delayed

The Ministry of Transport had been planning to start other work on the tunnel on May 25, which it announced in a press release just hours before the accident but later withdrew.

This work will also involve closing the infrastructure to modernise the lighting and security systems in order to improve energy efficiency and safety.

This €3.5 million-project has been postponed, reportedly until September, so as not to cause further traffic problems over the summer, but it could not be confirmed whether this date was now certain or may be moved forward if the repairs are completed much sooner than was originally thought.

The funding is coming from the EU even though this part of the motorway is managed by AUSUR. The AP-7 is free south of La Zenia in Orihuela Costa but AUSUR charges a toll (of at least €2.75 in the low season and €4.85 for 17 days over Easter and from June to September inclusive) to get from there as far as the next toll in Los Montesinos, a distance of little more than 10km.