Seaside Gazette » avenida

Avenida de Andalucía Adjustments

Editor — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:10:37 +0000

You will have noticed, perhaps, that there was a bit of work on the Avenida de Andalucía going on towards the end of February – this was repair work on a section that had already been finished.
The problem was and still is that the new road surface (made from bricks) is porous, unlike the previous tarmac surface, which lets the rainwater through. This filtration has been causing considerable damp problems with the businesses along the left hand right hand side, as you go down the avenue. The Internet Café, for instance, which is just below Mari y Miguel’s meson, has plaster falling off and damp invading the power sockets.
The second fault with the new design is, as there is no curb, rainwater actually flows into the premises that have no raised thresholds – again, as is the case of the cyber café, which has been flooded out on six separate occasions since the rains began.
The IU brought these problems to the attention of the Town Hall and we also went round and chatted to the affected businesses. The repair work, therefore, appears to be in response to the IU’s press release. Whether it was motivated by this or was done off their own backs, so to speak, the IU has since congratulated the Town Hall on reacting swiftly – it remains to be seen if it has been effectively, as well as swiftly.
Although the IU congratulated the Town Hall, it didn’t lose the opportunity to do a spot of political sniping, pointing out that it was a pity that the Town Hall did not respond when the defects were first brought to their attention, but it must be pointed out that it has been bucketing it down since then, so there has hardly been the chance, really.
However a more than justified criticism made was that the municipal inspectors should have been there to make sure that the construction company did their job correctly – which it evidently hasn’t. As the IU points out, it is the obligation of the said inspectors and the Council of Public Works to make sure work is being carried out according to the project.

Avenida de la Alpujarra

Editor — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:01:13 +0000

As Vanessa has mentioned above, the road works on Lanjarón’s main street continues to drag on in waterlogged obstinacy. The barrage of rain is an obvious reason for this delay, although if rain stopped work in a place with a climate like the UK, nothing would ever get built there, would it?
However, such a self-evident cause for delay won’t stop an opposition party from using it as a stick with which to beat a ruling party, and the chief opposition party of Lanjarón, the PP, is no exception. They say that the hotels and other businesses are beginning to feel the pinch caused by this drawn-out road works. They claim that the delay is due to the ‘inept, passive and pernicious’ way the PSOE ruling party has been handling it.
They point out – and many might agree – that this project that has a budget of half a million euros and has been dragging on for over six months was unnecessary, or better said, not a priority. The Avenida de la Alpujarra, they say, was in good nick anyway. Furthermore, the original layout permitted two-way traffic, which the new one will not.
Lastly, the PP alleges that the pavements are being endlessly redesigned, with one stretch being completed and then ripped up again virtually the next day.
To put this into perspective – and this is not to agree or disagree with the local PP – the selfsame thing is happening in Almuñécar and Motril, whose main thoroughfares have undergone, or are undergoing, similar facelifts, thanks to Central Government’s Plan E funds. In Motril, conversely, it is the PSOE that are berating the governing PP for needlessly changing a perfectly functioning main street, Avenida de Salobreña, when there are more urgent infrastructure projects outstanding. They point out that more jobs have been lost than created, even though the whole purpose of the Plan E funds is to help the local work market. Meanwhile over in Almuñécar, both the PP and the PSOE are accusing the ruling CA (Benavides) party of precisely the same sins over the Avenida de Andalucía.
The fact is, with an eye on the looming local elections, ruling parties are more concerned about creating something ostentatious, thus vote catching, rather than necessary but invisible (subterranean infrastructure renewal).

Firemen Evacuate Building

Editor — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:56:10 +0000

On the Avenida de Europe this month a car fire in the basement parking of a building caused the building to be temporally evacuated. The fire was reported at 23:30h on the 12th of January. It took about an hour to completely extinguish the flames and not before the totally burnt out. By half one in the morning, the residents were allowed to return to their BBQ-flavoured flats.

Avenida de Andalucía Re-opened

Editor — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:40:36 +0000

Well, at last the business along the Avenida de Andalucía can take a small breather, thanks to this thoroughfare being opened again to traffic on the 13th of January, even though it was promised that this main traffic artery would be opened in time for Christmas.
The opposition parties were quick to criticise the governing party for this delay, but if we are to be honest, with the constant and heavy rainfall, it was impossible to complete the task by the promised dated.
The trouble is that the first section smashed into a Christmas holiday period, so that it could all be over by Summer; not only did traders see their sales slump during the Christmas and Easter breaks last year, but the road was actually opened again until the beginning of August, completely ruining July sales. So, can you blame local businesses for being less than happy about another Christmas-holiday break being lost?
There’s no news – at least I can’t find any – about when the Avenida de Andalucía will be closed for work on the next section, but nobody would be surprised if it coincides with the Easter and summer holiday breaks…

Avenida de Salobreña

Héloïse Nolan — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:18:13 +0000

The Avenida de Salobreña, otherwise known as the road from the Alcampo supermarket into the centre of Motril, has now been out of action (closed) since May 2009 with a projected completion date of late March 2010. With great fanfare we were told in November 2009 that the road would be ready and opened again by 5 January 2010 and the Three Kings festivities, as most Motrileños are now totally fed up with the noise, dust and length of time taken on this project.
Ummm, excuse me, but it is now nearly the end of January and the road has still not opened! The socialists have had great fun with this and are having a ball in the local press asking why it was ever mentioned in the first place that the road would be ready by early January when it clearly wasn’t able to be achieved although I think it might have something to do with the amount of rain we have had since mid December.
Taking a walk down the Avenida is quite an eye opener to what we are going to get when it has opened. Firstly, not a parking space in sight! Now, that is a clever move on the one hand and a disaster on the other! The clever bit is that it forces all those who want to park into the nearby new underground car park which used to be where the outdoor market was situated before it moved up to the Mercadona supermarket to the east of town… no more free parking.
The bad news is that the Spanish do like to park right outside the shop they want to visit and the Avenida will now become a one track road in each direction … if anyone stops, there is no chance of a car being able to pass the stationary vehicle. This should be especially fun when the shops have deliveries being made as delivery vehicles will either hold up the traffic or will be forced into the side streets which will equally block the flow of traffic around the area.
Interestingly, there is a bicycle lane from the direction of Alcampo to the centre of town but not one in the opposite direction … why a bicycle lane in only one direction? (And anyway, the children ride their bikes on the pavements here.)
Then there are the new roundabouts … ho, ho, are we going to have fun at these points in the road! The road is narrow and the roundabouts so large (one resembles a large fruit bowl) that it looks unlikely that a bus or lorry will be able to get round the roundabout without either mounting the pavement or crashing into the roundabout! This really is a road that has been designed for the pedestrian with it’s wide pavements but unfortunately, ripping out the trees that used to be there and putting in palms, has taken away much of the shade and it is going to be a hot slog walking down the Avenida in the warmer months.
Until the road has been opened the jury is out but I reckon that there is going to be quite a lot said and written about the newly designed Avenida de Salobreña over the future months.

Road Works in Town

Dave Nichols — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:51:55 +0000

Concerning the roadworks in town – on Calle Nueva and Av. Federico Garcia Lorca, the first has been a mess for over six months now – due, as reported earlier, to contractor problems, which, according to a well-informed funcionario in the Town Hall, are not easily solved. Legal requirements dictate that the entire bidding process must be repeated!

Av. Federico Garcia Lorca is a slightly different case, in that the merchants directly affected by the absence of parking and difficulty of pedestrian access to their premises have been up in arms – not just over the timing of the work during the important pre-Christmas period (which, apparently, is dictated by the terms of the funding) – but by the lack of progress and the absence of any straight answers from the Town Hall.

Apparently, the answer they get to any given question depends on the day of the week, the phase of the moon, who is blaming whom for what on any particular day and if the person being asked has yet had their morning coffee.

The cynics among you might wonder if things would be different in either of these cases were any of our noble councillors to have their homes or businesses directly affected. You might think that; I could not possibly comment.

Avenida de Salobreña

Héloïse Nolan — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:39:19 +0000

Let’s start the betting! Motril Council has said it is going to try and get the Avenida de Salobreña opened in time for business by Christmas. Now let’s see. From the time of writing this on 23 November, that will give approximately 20 working days for the works to be completed!
Shops are now on their knees from the works that started in May 2009 and were scheduled to finish in March 2010. How is the work to be finished in the next 20 odd days or so? Yes, a few palm trees have now been planted but when I last walked past the end of the Avenida de Salobreña yesterday it looked like an archaeological dig was in progress. Good luck Motril Council … may the force be with you!

10% Off Laundry

David Darby — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:44:06 +0000

The brilliant, family-run Lavanderia Avenida in Almuñécar is opposite the Costa Banana apartment blocks, just as you enter town at the Guardia Civil junction on the right, and they are offering 10% off all their services!
All you have to do is use the 10% off coupon from their ad here in the Gazette. Of course, it is understandable that you may not want to deface your copy of the wonderfully entertaining Gazette, so if you turn up with a copy under your arm, you may just get away with it!
After forty years in business, Lavenderia Avenida could teach some of these so-called, high flyers a thing or two about surviving in business during an economic downturn. They’ve seen off economic turmoil on more than one occasion over the years and have always survived…
Why? Simple: they know what they are good at, and provide a service that is both efficient and cost effective, to both commercial and domestic customers. With a pick-up and delivery service and English spoken, you get exactly what you would expect from such a long standing business, because if they don’t know what they’re about, then nobody does!
So get down there with all your laundry before the summer, and make sure you take your Gazette! Or at least a little bit of it.
Lavenderia Avenida, Avda. Costa de Sol 37, Almuñécar, 958 881 365.