On January 1st 2020, the AP7 mororway is scheduled to become toll free.
HOWEVER….
Alicante business community insists on seeking alternatives to the announced liberalisation of the motorway. On Monday of this week, the Chamber of Commerce debated a proposal to change the current toll for a “soft toll.”
At the meeting, the Chamber of Commerce agreed to create a work commission composed of the tourism and transport sectors to transfer to the Ministry of Development the proposal for a new concession for the next 40 years. That is, another 40 years of tolls, but on the condition that bonuses are established for residents and carriers.
In addition, the concessionary company would be committed to investing 2,000 million (approximately the cost of the original building of the motorway) in infrastructure for the regions of Alicante.
The businessmen already requested a soft toll last year when a report was presented, prepared by the Institute of Economic Studies of the Province of Alicante. The businesses fear that the total liberalisation of the AP-7 will result in a collapse of this fast track road that would be an obstacle to the transport of goods and economic activity.
However, the candidate for Alicante, Ignasi Candela said that the AP-7 “must be in the hands of the State on January 1 so that there is legal certainty regarding the end of the concession, and that, in his opinion, “it cannot be that a poor community like ours should continue to pay for an already amortised infrastructure”
He went on to say that “The Marina Alta and the Marina Baixa have been suffering from this discrimination for many decades. The cost of the toll is too high for families and SMEs.” Candela added. “There are many conditions and too many hypotheses that support the study presented. On January 1, 2020, the highway must be in the hands of the State to stop increasing the income statement of a private company that should deliver the infrastructure in perfect condition, ”he reiterated.
