The Sustainable Mobility Platform l'Alacantí (PCM) has launched an alternative proposal for the configuration of the Plaza de la Muntanyeta in Alicante, coinciding with the promotion of the redevelopment project associated with the tender for the exploitation of the underground parking promoted by the Alicante City Council. The aim is to reorganize road traffic to connect this square with Calvo Sotelo square, "creating a continuous pedestrian zone of 13,000 square meters", according to sources from the collective.
Currently, the Plaza de la Muntanyeta is fragmented by several motorized lanes, including the road accesses to the existing underground parking. The PCM points out that Calvo Sotelo square is also surrounded by traffic, causing its "isolation" from the Muntanyeta and other pedestrian streets in the area. Therefore, they consider the redevelopment proposed by the City Council to be "insufficient and, in some aspects, counterproductive".
The collective maintains that the municipal proposal acts on a "scarce surface area" and involves the "removal of bicycle parking and the existing protected cycling route, or the provision of only 2% of the square's surface covered by a pergola". Spokespersons for the association have communicated this position to municipal officials, after registering eight objections and three suggestions to the preliminary draft.
The PCM believes that the redevelopment represents "an exceptional opportunity to create a pedestrian zone of 13,000 square meters connecting both squares with other streets to be pedestrianized or already pedestrianized". This would help connect the Ensanche and Traditional Center areas, "boosting commercial activity in the Heart of Alicante, benefiting small local businesses", its representatives assure.
Among the highlighted aspects of the PCM's alternative proposal are "the relocation of the access ramps to the underground parking" to avoid fragmenting the square, the pedestrian connection with San Francisco street, and the pedestrianization of streets such as Pintor Agrasot, Colón, Ángel Lozano, Álvarez Sereix, Girona, and Barón de Finestrat. The platform guarantees residents' access to parking with changes in traffic direction and passage through pedestrian sections, avoiding "a massive reservation of space for hospitality uses that implies indiscriminate privatization of public space".
The proposal also includes "the replacement of the existing cycling route" and the incorporation of shade elements, such as climate refuges. It proposes a large-sized wooded area between the squares and, over the parking, species with shallow roots and leafy canopies in planters, as well as pergola structures with climbing plants.
With this proposal, the PCM considers that "a free, landscaped space, without motorized traffic, would be obtained, which would help to alleviate a very deficient provision in the Ensanche and the Traditional Center, of areas that invite people to stay, socialize, and enjoy peacefully".
The exploitation tender in exchange for works, promoted by the Popular Party (PP), establishes a minimum investment of 3.5 million euros by the concessionaire company to carry out changes in the facility and the square. The tender requires three essential changes: the displacement of the ornamental fountain to prevent leaks into the parking lot, the elimination of the vehicle turn before Calvo Sotelo Square due to the fountain's relocation, and repaving for a single-platform configuration. The current pedestrian area will not be expanded, but a children's play area and the renovation of the shade pergola will be incorporated, in addition to reorganizing and increasing the garden area.
