This Tuesday, 14 in February, the residents of the neighborhood of the West were called to their usual neighborhood meeting with a special theme on the table: the remodeling of Valgamediós and Tenor Cortis squares and Pare Pere street.
The councilor of the neighborhood, MªJosep Ripoll, together with the architect who made the proposal, Luis Martínez de Pascual, and a technician from the department, explained in broad strokes what this project would consist of, a very generic version of what will be definitively, in the absence of incorporate the proposals of the residents of the neighborhood.
The project, which is expected to be carried out thanks to a grant from the Provincial Council of Alicante of some 600.000 euros, includes improvements in the rainwater network, the burying of the wiring and the redevelopment of the entire area.
The problem of parking in Pare Pere street
The initial project considers that Pare Pere Street is a single platform, which means that the sidewalks are at the level of the road. In this sense, the regulation indicates that the sidewalks must have a minimum width of 1,50 meters, compared to the 90 centimeters they have now. In this way, according to this initial project, the parking of the road would be eliminated.
This was the most conflictive point of all those who showed up to the neighbors, since they were worried about the lack of parking in the area that would entail. Currently the street has capacity for some 70 parked vehicles, which in many cases are people who go to work at the center and not so much of the residents.
That is why the neighbors, despite agreeing on the need to redevelop the area, requested a solution for the lack of parking. In this sense, the councilor of the neighborhood explained that they will look for ways to incorporate these proposals to the redevelopment project.
The Valgamediós square, a free car plaza
In the Valgamediós square the vehicles will be removed to enhance the area and make it more accessible for pedestrians. The main circulation will be maintained from the Gandía road towards the Alicante avenue, through Hermanos Ferchen street. The loading and unloading areas are maintained and banks will be installed in the whole square next to new trees.
For this square, the project was agreed with the West fails, Planting his monument there to ensure that there will be no problem installing the fault every March.
The Tenor Cortis square with benches and flower beds
For Tenor Cortis Square in the center of the street Pare Pere, the project includes the removal of parked vehicles. parterre central banks would remain and would be installed to create a pedestrian plaza.
Deadlines to execute the project
Currently the City is waiting for the resolution of the subsidy of the Diputación de Alicante that will allow this redevelopment. Once it is resolved, it is necessary to present the concrete project that has been created together with the proposals of the neighbors.
Once they start, the works would last between 4 and 6 months, which could be done in several phases to obstruct as little as possible the day to day of the neighbors. Even so, both the councilor and the technicians warned that the start of the works would not be imminent, but within the next two years.
I am a neighbor of Pare Pere Street. It seems to me very well that finally someone proposes remodeling the neighborhood. Gentlemen, with due respect, or the neighborhood will be reformed or depreciated in less than a decade. In the Calle Mayor there are more empty houses than there are occupied, and Pare Pere goes the same way. Do you know what has happened to neighborhoods like ours in larger cities? The owners of the big houses are dying and with them the neighborhood dies. The heirs usually subdivide these houses and put them for rent. Who are the new neighbors? As the houses are so old and need many reforms, like their streets, and since these reforms are not undertaken, I can assure you that the new tenants are not very solvent. Many of these neighborhoods have become nests of drugs, prostitution and crime. It does not matter if they are in the center of the cities. Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia are clear examples of this. So either we do something to improve the neighborhood or in the end the neglect, the apathy and the confrontation will do their job: A MARGINAL DISTRICT.
It is true that the lack of parking is a problem. Later than the 22: 00 it is impossible to find where to park. At that time you can spend more than 30 minutes circling with the car before finding a hole. In other areas of Denia the same happens. And this gentlemen is the result of a crazy and poorly planned construction that has enriched a few and left the majority without space, including our pets that have nowhere to go to shit.
Many times I wonder: why do pedestrian crossings have to be so wide? If there is not so much traffic of people around here. Could we cut them and gain some space? Is there any rule on the subject? Another idea: there are streets where instead of parking in line, you should park in battery and thus we would have more space. For example Ronda walls, Campo Torres and others.
For my part I am delighted with the exposed project. Broader sidewalks will empower more people and open more businesses. Thus the neighborhood will have more life and we will not witness a marginal decline of it. The burying of the horrible cables hanging on the facades and the reform of the squares will bring more tourists to our streets. Added the pros and subtracted the cons, the positive aspects far outweigh the negatives.
Perhaps to calm the spirits of some, Mrs. Ripoll, some concession will have to be made. If the neighbors sacrifice "their" parking spaces for the good of the town, have you thought about how to thank such a laudable attitude? What if they apply a reduction in the real estate tax? Or in the road tax? In this way, the injured neighbors will be able to see their "sacrifice" compensated.
Mrs. Ripoll, thank you for the ideas proposed. I hope to see some of them made. Many times I wonder what happens to my people. There are many good initiatives, but… I don't see any materialize. And believe me if I tell you that being able to boast about being a town I often feel ashamed to see how everything is.