| Ma-13 motorway upgrade |
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| Thursday, 23 April 2009 | |
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The Ma-13 motorway from Palma to Inca is due to be upgraded to a full 6 lane motorway. Work has already begun and the upgrade may be completed in late 2009. According to different sources, the funds necessary for the upgrade vary from 26.9 to almost 80 million Euros. Currently the Ma-13 only features three lines from Palma to Marratxi... Those three lanes merge to two lanes at the exit to the Alcampo shopping centre in Marratxi. In terms of adequate access to this shopping centre, the motorway's number of lanes may seem to be sufficient. However, with the thousands of commuters in mind who live in towns near Palma, the two lanes have become inadequate for the amount of traffic seen today. The popular Sunday market in Santa Maria, also causes heavy traffic mostly originating in Palma. The third lanes particulary makes sense when you think of the amount of traffic on the right-bent uphill slope just after the exit to the Festival Park. People's poor driving skills and habits cause a lot of unnecessary congestion when it comes to this slope, where countless people think that 60 kp/h represents the adequate speed on an uphill motorway The opportunity of the roadworks are also used to increase safety, with the installation of concrete barriers between the three lanes in each direction. In previous years, a number of severe accidents caused by vehicles that crossed the green belt between the lanes hitting other cars, had caused public attention. Whether the upgrade makes sense for all the way through to Inca, remains questionable, as the volume of traffic between Binissalem and Inca remains rather limited so far. Nevertheless, Inca experiences strong growth in recent years and the investment could prove to make sense anytime soon. |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 23 April 2009 ) |
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