Date Published: 14/09/2021
ARCHIVED - Traffic volume overtakes pre-pandemic levels in Benidorm
ARCHIVED ARTICLE On peak days in August, the number of vehicles on the roads in the Marina Baixa resort, Alicante province, was up 30 per cent on 2019
The volume of traffic on main roads in Benidorm in August reached higher levels than those recorded during the same period in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
According to the local council’s mobility department, "there were far more cars and other vehicles on the main roads in Benidorm than two years ago, on occasions a third more."
One of the ways in which the data was compiled was by analysing the use of car parks and parking meters.
For example, there was only one day (August 30) when there was a decrease of 5 per cent in regulated blue zone parking. During the rest of the month, the number of cars reached peaks of up to 30 per cent higher than in 2019, specifically on August 7, 24 and 28.
Overall, there was an average increase of 12 per cent.
"In general there were fewer passengers, but therefore more vehicles (due to restrictions), and Benidorm not only had more traffic and cars than in 2019, but the highest ever," added mobility councillor José Ramón González de Zárate.
He also attributed the rise to a spike in national tourists, and a lack of British holidaymakers, which meant "fewer buses, which were instead replaced by cars driven by Spaniards, particularly in the Rincón de Loix area".
Despite a surge in traffic on the roads, there has been a "significant reduction in the number of accidents", and no major "retention problems", according to the local authority.
Benidorm has about 80,000 public and private parking spaces and 23,000 vehicles are registered in the municipality. "Therefore we have the parking potential for about 60,000 additional cars," added González de Zárate.
The town has seen a steady increase in the volume of traffic over the last six months. At the end of March when a speed control was installed in Avenida del Mediterráneo, 5,400 were recorded daily. This rose to 6,493 each day after the State of Alarm ended on May 9, and a maximum peak of 9,824 in August.
Similar data has been recorded on another major road, Avenida Comunidad Valencian, and in the Levante area of the town, with a gradual decline from August 27.
"These are important data that lead us to think about establishing more park and ride facilities," said González de Zárate.
Last month, the council launched free shuttle bus and public transport cards for Benidorm residents to reduce the number of cars on the roads.
Image: Ayuntamiento de Benidorm