ANIMAL CROSSINGS WILL MAKE THE ROADS SAFER

Staff Reporter THE Council of Majorca plans to build false tunnels to provide overhead animal crossings on the Inca and Manacor roads to link natural areas and prevent animals from becoming isolated. Four of these tunnels are contemplated in the Council's master plan for development. The Balearic government will collaborate in the construction of the false tunnels, two on the Inca motorway and two on the Manacor road, acting as links between natural areas. The master plan is expected to be approved on December 1. In some cases, the tunnels will be as long as 100 metres, thus helping prevent isolation between species on either side of the roads. The Inca motorway is impossible for animals to cross, and so they remain marooned on one side of the road. The master plan indicates that these links will lead to the recovery of perception of the small rises which have been affected by road building and will lessen the impact on the environment considerably. The Plan makes a specific proposal to build these elevated crossings/false tunnels in areas where the vegetation has the greatest potential for fauna. The crossings should put an end to the number of animals which die on the roads, and will also make the roads safer. The plan also calls for the creation of three “park routes” or roads which are respectful of the environment, so that, using existing roads or building new ones, they will connect nearly all the island “in a pleasant fashion.” The first of these roads would link Palma with Sa Pobla, through Santa Eugenia, Sencelles, Costitx and Llubi. The creation of a “support arc” which would link Palma, Llucmajor, Campos, Felanitx, Manacor, Sant Llorença, Artá, Santa Margalida, Muro and Sa Pobla, would be the second. The third would link Sa Pobla to Campos via Llubí, Sineu, Sant Joan, Montuiri and Porreres. These roads would have two lanes and their lay out would be adapted to the environment. The aim is to improve the quality of the roads which run through areas of great natural beauty, and at the same time make the countryside more accessible to road users. The Plan proposes that some of these projects should be completed by 2008 and expects them to cost some 12 million euros. “The creation of a park roadway network calls for a continued and precise effort,” a Council spokesman said. European Union funding has not been ruled out, either through the innovation and development programme, or a rural development programme. Bartomeu Vicens, the head of the Council's planning department, said that the Plan would fulfil a triple objective: it would regulate growth, increase protection of the countryside and revive the most degraded areas of the island.