1 minute read
Road changes underway The final countdown
THE newly elected Island Council of Mallorca has launched the proceedings to eliminate the VAO bus lane and do away with the 80 kph speed limit on the Vía de Cintura main road.
New Consell President Llorenç Galmés this week announced that he has requested an urgent meeting with the national government delegate for the Balearic Islands and the national Traffic authorities to discuss both issues, as the VAO lane falls under the jurisdiction of the central government and the Consell does not have the authority to take the decision.
Galmés lamented that the move could take longer than they would like due to the upcoming general elec tions on July 23, which could bring about important changes to the national political structure.
Scrapping the VAO and the speed limit on the Vía de Cintura were two of the PP party’s main promises for the local and regional elections at the end of May, when they vowed to do so within their first 100 days in power.
The previous leftwing Island Council had defended both measures on safety grounds, insisting that the 80 kph speed limit had reduced accidents on the road by 40 per cent.
THE newly formed town council of Palma has switched off the electronic ‘tree counter’ in the Plaza España.
“We believe in real trees, not virtual ones” declared a spokesperson for the town hall as an explanation for the decision to turn off the screen that at its last count showed that there are currently 10,963 trees in the city.
The tree counter was installed by the previous council in March 2021 and immediately became the target of severe criticism on behalf of the thenopposition PP party.
The new local executive led by Jaime Martínez has announced that the machine will soon be uninstalled as there is currently no company in charge of its maintenance, adding that “we have many other plans in the pipeline with regards to the environment that are much more useful than a tree counter.”
TREE COUNTER: Currently 10,963 trees in the city.
The device was connected to the municipal website www.10000arbres.com that at the time of writing was still active, showing a map where the trees are planted, their species and how much carbon dioxide they capture.
