Valladolid and León are linked by 142 kilometers and a claim. Specifically, converting the N-610 secondary road into a two-lane highway in each direction. The project has received a small but important push. One that should culminate in the construction of a dozen more kilometers in a project that has been talked about for more than a quarter of a century.
What’s new? That the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility approved last Tuesday, provisionally, the connection between Villanubla and La Mudarra to continue advancing in the construction of the A-60 highway, which should connect Valladolid with León, currently separated by a national highway.
Of course, the approval given by transport does not guarantee that these 10 kilometers will be carried out because, for the moment, any affected neighbor can present the appropriate allegations or observations in relation to the expected expropriations that are going to be carried out. To do so, interested parties have 30 business days.
A new step. If consolidated, what will be built will be a 10-kilometer stretch between Villanubla and La Mudarra, a connection close to the Valladolid airport where, until now, the A-60 highway ends on its exit from this city. The project has an estimated budget of 74,750,633.16 euros.
There seems little progress but if we take into account what has been done so far, the qualitative leap is more than evident. And right now, only 45 kilometers of the more than 120 kilometers through which the highway is expected to run have been built. That is, with those 10 kilometers, we would be close to reaching half of it and would represent around 10% of the total work.
A 20th century project. The issue is especially painful for the neighbors because the project has been on the table for more than a quarter of a century. To find its origin, we must go back to 1997 when it was approved for the first time to deal with the matter in the Cortes. However, it was not until 2002 when the first procedures began, as stated in Europa Press.
This last section, in fact, has been frozen for years and is now beginning to be processed urgently. In Valladolid newspaper They point out that the first time the papers were put on the table for these 10 kilometers that separate Villanubla from La Mudarra was 2017. However, the passage of time has caused the deadlines to expire, so it was not until the end of 2025 that a push was given again to the construction of this new section.
The current situation. Right now, covering the distance that separates Valladolid and León represents an inappropriate expenditure of time for the distance that separates them. The short route is the N-610 highway, a secondary road with 142 kilometers that requires almost two hours of travel.
There are also no better alternatives to reduce the time one needs. If you want to take a highway, there are not many options.
The most obvious one requires you to go from Valladolid to Tordesillas, there take the A-6 and then connect with the A-66. In this way, the driver is already forced to get closer (very close) to the two hours and add another 40 kilometers to the trip. Of course, the roads are safer.
Security issue. Obviously, the construction of a highway between Valladolid and León would have an immediate impact on the security of the region. According to DGT data collected by Valladolid newspaper, In 2024, the N-601 recorded 41 accidents as it passed through Valladolid. That is, almost one accident per week was recorded. That year, nine deaths were recorded before the end of 2024 and in 2023 another 11 people died.
Until now, the prevention plans for these accidents have focused on adapting the road to the large volume of traffic on it, with the projection of 2+1 lanes that should alleviate traffic jams in some points, especially those generated by heavy transport.
Photo |
In WorldOfSoftware | Spain built its roads thinking it was a hot country. Now that’s a problem
