In recent weeks, the city of Alicante has launched new bicycle lanes in two of its main circulation axes: the La Explanada promenade and the axis consisting of the General Marvá-Federico Soto-Doctor Gadea promenades. They are two circuits that connect together, but whose use - according to bicycle user groups - is limited by their lack of connection with the rest of the city's roads.
A careful observation shows that the use of bicycles is still scarce in the city, inferior even to the new private means of transport in vogue: the scooter. This reality allows for contradictory interpretations. It may be thought that it is the lack of an adequate road network that discourages potential users, but municipal bodies tend to interpret that there is no demand to justify the necessary investment.
Pedro García, spokesperson for Alacant en Bici, emphasizes the fact that "the mobility table has not met for two years; before, at least they listened to us, but now there is no communication, they do not answer our allegations and directly they discard them." His group considers, for example, that the bike lane on the Marvá-Soto-Gadea axis is not practical, because it is narrow and because, having placed it on the sidewalk instead of on the road, pedestrians waiting at the traffic light They invade it without hardly realizing it.
Its design is completely different from the other lane with which it connects at the Canalejas Park, not only because of the width, but because of the type of signage and the color of the pavement. This is much wider, it runs along La Explanada between the terraces and the central boulevard, but it ends at its ends, with no connection to Avenida de Elche to the south or to El Postiguet to the north.
Therefore, the oft-promised coastal promenade that would link Urbanova with Playa de San Juan continues to seem like a chimera. Among other things, because the striking walkway that was supposed to avoid the conflictive section that prevents the passage of pedestrians and makes the passage of bicycles very dangerous, between the EUIPO and the Saladar beach and the Urbanova urbanization, ended up in the trash can of municipal oblivion, despite the fact that in the previous mandate it was awarded to the company Pavasal for 2.5 million euros.
There is also no connection between the new La Explanada lane and El Postiguet, one of the areas through which, in practice, most bicycles travel. From Puerta del Mar, the cyclist has only two options: risk his physical condition by riding along Juan Bautista Lafora towards the busy avenues of Dénia or Villajoyosa that lack bike lanes, or risk that of the numerous pedestrians who walk. along the Postiguet and La Cantera walks, which is what the increasingly frequent tourists usually do.
It so happens that in a few months, this spring if the works go as they should, the Generalitat will be in a position to inaugurate a long-awaited greenway over the old Tram tracks, a space that the La Cantera tunnel freed up. The problem is that this promising circuit that runs along the sea will also lack connections in the short and medium term, both to the urban area and to Playa de San Juan.
Something similar happens with a space that is in principle ideal for the use of bicycles, as the University of Alicante would seem, given its large number of students and their age, conducive to this. However, access by this means is only easy for those who reside in the municipality of Sant Vicent del Raspeig, to which the campus belongs, because from Alicante - whose urban area is only 5 kilometers away - the journey by bike or scooter It does not invite you to take risks.
Another point of contention between users and the City Council is the planned reform of Aguilera Avenue, which connects Ensanche with the populous neighborhoods of Babel and La Florida, in which it is planned to widen the sidewalks and create a bus lane. , but the proposal to include a bike lane has been discarded.
The non-existence of a public rental service, after the failures of the attempts that have been made in recent years, has an impact on the fact that, despite its unbeatable climate and the low difficulty presented by its orography, Alicante , it is not a city for bicycles.
