The Ciudad Real Provincial Council will allocate 12.9 million euros this year to the provincial road plan, which was presented yesterday by the council’s president, Nemesio de Lara, and which includes a total of five projects on the provincial road network, which spans 1,700 kilometers.
De Lara, at a press conference where he was accompanied by the vice president in charge of infrastructure, José Luis Cabezas, explained that an additional 1.2 million euros from the budget allocated for the maintenance of provincial roads must be added to these 12.9 million euros, bringing the total investment in roads for the current fiscal year to over 14 million.
The president of the Ciudad Real Provincial Council emphasized that, by using the institution’s surplus, the governing team will double the initial road budget of 6.19 million euros approved in the 2015 budget. This investment effort is possible, De Lara added, because the national government allows the spending cap to be exceeded in order to fund «financially sustainable» projects, such as road improvements.
In late January, the Provincial Council approved a budget adjustment of 6.6 million euros to increase funding for the social emergency plan and the employment plan for the current fiscal year. This funding came from the budget allocated for roads, which was temporarily reduced to zero. However, De Lara announced that at the next plenary session, once the 2014 budget had been finalized, part of the available surplus would be invested in the road plan presented yesterday.
Between 2010 and 2014, the Provincial Council carried out 41 road projects, representing an investment of 54 million euros. And under the 2015 road plan, five more roads will be improved: the CR-1222, from Campo de Criptana to the CM-3103, passing through Arenales de San Gregorio, with an investment of 3,848,000 euros; the CR-4124, from Corral de Calatrava to Alcolea de Calatrava (second section), a project with a budget of 2,342,000 euros; the CR-501, the Mestanza bypass, which has been allocated 775,000 euros in funding; the CR-5021, from Brazatortas to Cabezarrubias del Puerto, which will receive an investment of 5,780,000 euros; and the CR-7223, on the El Torno bypass, where work will be carried out with a budget of 166,000 euros.
In addition to these new projects, the Provincial Council will continue to move forward with the various administrative phases for other roads for which funding has been allocated, such as the second phase of the CR-5136, in the Ballesteros de Calatrava area; the CR-5226, between Viso del Marqués and Bazán; the CR-4116, from Argamasilla to Villamayor de Calatrava; and the CR-5221, on the so-called ‘Camino de Calatayud,’ between Moral de Calatrava and a point very close to Valdepeñas.
Public Works. Nemesio de Lara emphasized that the projects included in the highway plan are not based on political or partisan criteria—they affect five municipalities governed by the PP, two by the PSOE, and one by Izquierda Unida—while also stressing that the Provincial Council, in addition to contributing to the improvement of the provincial road network, generates economic activity among companies that rely on public works for their business. «The Provincial Council exceeds the levels of investment in roads made by other administrations with much larger budgets than ours within the province,» stated the president of the Provincial Council.
