An execution time of between five and six years and a disbursement of 565 million euros. These are the main figures of the proposal for the funeral of Valladolid which emerges from a report commissioned by the Town Hall which puts on the table a technical solution different from that proposed by Adif and which underlines that the price and deadlines would be reduced by a third compared to the official option (17 years and 1,570 million, respectively). With this data in hand, Councilor Jesús Julio Carnero announced this Tuesday that he would request a new study on this alternative from the Ministry of Transport led by his predecessor at City Hall, Óscar Puente.
In essence, the report, prepared by Eficia Gestión Integral de Proyectos, explores a change in technical approach, which would involve move from expensive tunnel boring to more “economical” and “viable” open-cast diggingsheltered by screens and at a shallower depth. Although this could involve “hydrology, noise or space issues”, these would have a “simple solution”. This is a constructive measure, say the editors of the work, which was proposed during the course of the underground project and which is included in several sections in the officially abandoned alternative. It was also used in 2007 in the Pinar de Antequera.
“We agree with Adif that burying the tunnel with a tunnel boring machine is not feasible,” said the company that prepared the report, which specifies that the “rejection” of the screens was “arbitrary” and suggests that a new study be carried out around this option and that it be “multi-criteria”. “The Adif only includes one criterion, rail” and not “economic or social benefits”, added the mayor, who will request this work from Transport.
“It’s up to the ministry to do it.” If they don’t, “we will do” the study “once we know it is technically and economically viable,” said Carnero, who stressed that “it doesn’t differ much” in cost from “misnamed rail integration”which they estimate at 420 million euros.
From the opposition, the spokesperson for Valladolid Take the Floor, Rocío Anguita, considers that it is a “partial report so that they can say what I want” and celebrated that “finally” we considers that burial with a tunnel boring machine “this is not viable”. Concerning the solution via screen walls, he prefers to wait to comment when he has the report in hand, as it has not yet been transmitted to the groups.
