Junta accelerates extension of Guadalhorce valley motorway with new 57-million-euro section

One of the most demanded projects in Malaga province - the extension of the A-357 Guadalhorce valley motorway - is finally moving forward again, thanks to the Andalusian regional government. The Junta is set to approve the tender for a section of the road, for which an investment of 57 million euros will be allocated. This action is key for improving the communication between inland parts of the province and Malaga city, especially between the towns in the Guadalhorce, Guadalteba and Ronda areas.

The 4.2-kilometre section in question is located between Casapalma (Cártama municipality) and Cerralba (Pizarra). The former is where the motorway currently ends, before reaching the bridge over the Río Grande river. It will be a bypass and for the most part will run parallel to the route of the existing road, which will be maintained as a service and access road to nearby properties. It will only deviate from the original route to cross the Río Grande river, where a 250-metre viaduct will be built.

It will connect with the current road in the Cerralba area via a roundabout. A junction will be left in place for the next planned section of the dual carriageway between Cerralba and the Zalea junction, which is currently in the study drafting phase.

This project has been abandoned since 2007, when the section between Cártama and Casapalma was inaugurated. In 2004, the section between the Parque Tecnológico de Andalucía and Cártama was opened, while the first dual carriageway between Malaga city and the PTA was opened in 1993.

The work subjected to the current tender was initially awarded in 2010, during the previous regional administration, but it never started. A compensation fee of nearly half a million euros had to be paid.

This extension is one of the actions planned for the future dual carriageway connection between Malaga and Ronda. The inland town has been demanding this project for years, but the necessity for it has become more pronounced in recent months, when the closure of the A-397 San Pedro road highlighted the lack of alternative routes in the province.